Source: Radio New Zealand
National MP Grant McCallum accepts a petition from ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler to ban bottom trawling. Giles Dexter
Ultra-marathon swimmer Jono Ridler has handed his bottom trawling ban petition over to Parliament, with a National MP hinting the party will take a policy on bottom trawling to the election.
The petition was signed by 73,647 people, and called for an end to the practice, starting with seamounts.
Earlier this month, Ridler finished his almost 1400km swim to Wellington, to highlight calls for the government to ban bottom trawling.
The 1367km effort began in North Cape on 5 January, finishing at the capital’s Whairepo Lagoon on 4 April, with a crowd of supporters watching on.
Jono Ridler arriving in Wellington. RNZ/ Anya Fielding
It set a world record for the longest unassisted staged swim, with Ridler only wearing togs, goggles, and a swim cap.
Ridler said the swim had brought the matter into the public consciousness, which was what he wanted to achieve.
“There is real momentum and real desire for change, and that people are paying attention to what is happening in their ocean space now, and they’re caring about it, and it’s important to us, and it’s great to see that other people back that as well.”
Ridler said New Zealand was the only country that was currently bottom trawling in the high seas of the South Pacific.
“Our ask is obviously wider than just the high seas, it’s bottom trawling in its entirety. There are better ways, we think, of being able to harvest wild food while also allowing a living for commercial fishermen. So there’s got to be a happy medium that exists where there’s not ecological destruction and where we can have a sustainable industry as well.”
Three-and-a-half weeks since the swim ended, he said he had recovered quicker than expected, and was already back exercising and swimming.
Ridler partnered with marine conservation foundation Live Ocean, which was co-founded by Olympic gold medallists and America’s Cup winners Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, to gather support for the petition.
Live Ocean co-founder Blair Tuke. Giles Dexter
Tuke said the swim was one of the “greatest human endurance feats of all time,” and the message was clear that New Zealanders wanted to see change.
“If you look outside the petition too, just the general groundswell of people that followed Jono’s mission, and what it represented, was huge. It’s a moment in time, and one that I’m incredibly proud of, and now it’s just about using that moment to make real change.”
The petition was accepted by National’s Northland MP Grant McCallum, who said National would “certainly” take policy in the marine space to the election, and it was “very much” looking at seamounts.
“We think there’s definitely some policy work we can do there. As co-chair of the Bluegreens it’s one of the big focuses for me, the whole marine space and the abundance and health of the whole ecosystem and the fisheries,” he said.
“We all want to be able to go and enjoy it, and we want our grandkids to be able to go and enjoy it, but for that to happen, we’ve got to make some decisions now, which are going to lead to better outcomes going forward. Because at the moment, it’s not in a great shape.”
Seamounts and other underwater hills and knolls are often home to diverse coral and sponges and key breeding grounds for fish.
Other National and ACT MPs attended the handover.
ACT leader David Seymour said the party was opposed to bottom trawling, unless it was done in places where there was repetitive use, and it was not destroying any new ground.
“We don’t believe that they should be destroying new seabed, that’s destructive. I think there’s a lot of practices out there that are open to challenge, such as taking a purse seine net out off the Bay of Plenty and just sweeping up all the fish in that area.”
The next step is for Parliament’s Petitions Committee to consider the petition in detail.
The Oceans and Fisheries minister, Shane Jones, has previously voiced his opposition to a ban, telling RNZ Pacific in February that New Zealand’s fishing industry had a “proud and very long” history of catching fish sustainably in the Pacific.
It is not the only area in the fisheries space where coalition parties have had differing views.
Last month, Jones was forced into a u-turn on plans to scrap most minimum size limits for commercial fishers, with National, ACT, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claiming they were responsible for getting the clause removed from the Fisheries Amendment Act.
National is also campaigning on stronger protections for the Hauraki Gulf, despite helping pass legislation to allow commercial fishing in two of the 12 High Protection Areas.
McCallum said that was “the nature” of coalition politics.
“This is the opportunity, with an election coming up, we can put our cards on the table of what are the sorts of marine space that we want to work in, and the policies we want around that, and so that’s what we’ll be focused on very much.”
Ridler and Tuke would be meeting with MPs across the House, including Jones, on Wednesday.
Tuke expected a “robust” conversation.
“We’re in this for the long-term, because we want to see a great New Zealand, and we believe how we’re fishing and the method that we’re fishing isn’t right currently, and we need to set up for a longer-term sustainable future.”
Jones said he understood the “great deal of passion associated with being better stewards of the ocean,” but any changes to New Zealand First policy positions depended on the caucus, and he would report back to the caucus on options as it progressed towards the election.
“We’re a pragmatic party, and we’re not going to make final decisions which have an effect on industry in any sort of indiscriminate way,” Jones said.
He said he was looking forward to meeting with Ridler and Tuke.
“They obviously feel that the current settings don’t pass muster. Look, you have to respect anyone who’s swum the entirety of Te Ika-a-Māui.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
