If the dispute remains unresolved the committee shall take the issue to TWM where a final decision shall be given. The key to achieving sustainable management depends upon the ability of stakeholders to take an integrated approach to the management of the fishery. While past environmental practices have often not considered the adverse effects of development on the eel fishery, sustainable management provides for its future. We must all share the responsibility for the state of this industry is in today. Eels have a future only when decisions are made after consultation with all parties.
Sustainable management means a future for eels in the eel fishery.
These, as with the Canvastown closed area, will be gazetted in time for customary use. The commercial and amateur allocations are to have equal allocation weighting. This means if the TACC is adjusted then the amateur allowance is adjusted by the same proportion. The allowance for customary take will not be an exact science. It is acknowledged that all parties to this agreement will be better informed after several years' fishing results are known, and when the customary fishing surveys start to produce quantitative information.