Smith StuartSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): Well like the Minister I welcome the Heron report. I think it is a good report and although we might not like some of the things that have come out or the reason for the report that is precisely what good governance is about—it is about ensuring that we get to the bottom of these things. In the report Mike Heron found that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) decision not to prosecute in two of the three cases was the correct decision. In the third case Operation Achilles both the decision and the methodology used—or the process leading up to that decision—were flawed. But the report also acknowledges that it is a very complex situation and there was quite a bit of confusion around the legal admissibility of the camera footage.As someone who was involved in the formation of a sustainable wine growing programme sustainability is something very dear to my heart. It is something I care deeply about and I think I would like to see more of those processes across other industries than just the wine industry. So seeing this situation and how it is played out it is very disappointing. But I think we have heard some very long bows being drawn in this debate this afternoon. The assertion that recreational fisheries have been impacted and that all of the blame is on commercial fishing is naive. I think doing that does not admit that everybody has an impact on the environment in some way or other and you have got to own your part of it. I think it was very disappointing to hear that and we have also heard some other strange things come out as well.I want to focus on sustainable management in our fisheries. There are three aspects to that: customary recreational and commercial fishing. I would like to point out four key points. The Minister has been involved with and has moved very quickly in a multi-sector group the Blue Cod Management Group managing a fishery that has a commercial aspect to it as well as a recreational aspect in the Marlborough Sounds. That group worked solidly together and got right to the bottom of the issue—the very nub of the issue—going right down to what impacts on the breeding of fish as well as the impacts of fishing itself. That management group worked for quite some time. The Minister recognised I think the wisdom of getting everyone together to work on these issues. The work of that group has led to a decision to close the fishery and then to get rid of the slot rule to lower the bag limit and get all of the rules around that fishery and how it is being managed done in a right and proper way. And it has got community buy-in. People who told me they did not like the rules and were breaking the rules because they thought the rules were an ass are now actually right in behind it and they own that fishery. I think that is really a major step forward and I take my hat off to the Minister.Also we have seen likewise in the scallop fishery. The scallop fishery in the Marlborough Sounds is now closed—for both the recreational and commercial fishers. The damage from the dredging in the Marlborough Sounds is a subject of fierce debate. As a former farmer as well I know that you cannot keep ploughing the ground over and over and not have an impact. Dredging on the bottom of the seabed is absolutely having an impact. In effect you are seeing the fines coming to the top. The mud is so fine that it is going through—when the scallops and other shellfish filter the sea water through their systems those fines block them up and that is believed to be one of the main issues causing a problem. But there is also a theory that it is impacting wider on the cod fishery. There is no evidence of that at this stage but it is a theory. So all of the sustainable management has been looking at that and commercial and recreational fishing is completely banned in the Marlborough Sounds as a result of that group—yet again another sustainable step put forward by the Minster.The third point I want to make is about pāua. I have had commercial pāua fishermen in my office really lobbying me to lobby the Minister to lower the commercial pāua catch in the Pāua 7 fishery because they are very concerned about the sustainability of that fishery. The Minister announced just a little while ago that in Pāua 7 the catch is in fact being reduced by 50 per cent to manage that fishery sustainably. I applaud the Minister for taking that bold step. There are people who are not happy with that but they are putting their own interests ahead of the fishery. If we do not manage the fisheries there will not be a fishery. That is pretty simple really.The fourth point I would like to make—which has already been touched on by my colleague Ian McKelvie—is about precision harvesting technology which was a result of a Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) project. That will go a long way to dealing with undersize fish being caught because the fish self-select through the device in the net so they do not end up in the net. Fish are brought on board alive which opens up a market for live fish going overseas that as yet has been unable to be accessed which is worth a lot of money for New Zealanders. I think it is a marvellous piece of technology. I take my hat off to the Minister actually again because the PGP project is exactly the type of thing and result that we would hope would come from this sort of technology—that it goes right through to the market reaching further up the value chain which is exactly where we want to be.I think some of the other issues that we need to remember are that GPS and camera technology which are now being put on those boats is going to go a long way to managing these issues and ensuring these things will not occur in the long run. I come back to the issue and all of the shroud-waving that has been going on across the other side. The quota management system—if it is really such a problem and is as big a problem as everyone is saying then perhaps we have underestimated the size of the fishery. It would be in severe trouble if what has been mentioned today was actually really the problem. The Minister will move I am sure very quickly and adopt the recommendations from the Heron report. I think the Minister did what one would expect from anyone in that position—to wait until they got right and proper advice and then to move on it and I think that is absolutely the right thing to do.So I would like to finish just by circling back and reinforcing the point with actions such as the Blue Cod Management Group in the Marlborough Sounds and how that fishery is being managed with the management of the scallop fishery in the Marlborough Sounds and how that is now a closed fishery and we also have Pāua 7 which is now being cut by 50 percent to manage that fishery. We see precision harvesting technology that is making a large difference and will go a long way to dealing with these issues in the future. The technology such as GPS and camera technology on fishing boats in the future I think will go a long way to ensuring these sorts of issues do not happen again. It is not great when we are in these situations but it is not the situation you are in it is how you manage it and I would put the point very strongly that it is being very well managed. Thank you.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.