Stanford EricaERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays): Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. I'm pleased to take a call on the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill at first reading. The objectives of this bill are to improve the workability of [the] fisheries management tools in the Conservation Act 1987" to "provide a complete and effective toolbox for … fisheries management" and on the surface the aims in this bill are good. Our indigenous freshwater fish are in need of protection. In 2013 nearly three-quarters of our indigenous freshwater fish were at risk of extinction and 50 percent of those are not found anywhere else in the world so the stakes are really high. And there are dozens of fish that are native to New Zealand—57 species in fact from slithering eels to tiny whitebait each of them entirely odd like the prehistoric boneless fish known as the vampire of the sea because it bleeds the blood out of its prey. It's an ancient spineless endangered species that literally sucks the life of out of its host leaving it an empty useless shell. It's a New Zealand First—I mean sorry a New Zealand fish totally a New Zealand fish called the lamprey and it's weird and wonderful and cool and it is worthy of protection.We acknowledge that these weird wonderful and special indigenous fish are precious and we will support this bill through to select committee but we do have some serious concerns as my colleague Todd Muller pointed out about the potential overreach—the unstated impacts this bill may have on our recreational fishers and our rural communities. Commercial whitebaiters rural water users and fishermen feel that they are adversely affected by this bill. They feel aggrieved that they have not been consulted. They feel that the excuse for no consultation—that the fact that it couldn't happen was because of the legislative timetable—was feeble. Fish & Game who represent thousands of people across New Zealand have not been consulted despite the impact that this bill will have on them and I'd say that this is unbelievable but given the previous actions of this Government the lack of consultation is entirely believable. One hundred and ten thousand anglers are represented by Fish & Game so the unintended—or otherwise—effects of this bill will impact on a large number of people. So the question is: does this bill undermine the interests of Fish & Game? With no consultation from the Minister of Conservation Fish & Game had to hire a lawyer to get an opinion on this question. The advice back wasn't great. Fish & Game's lawyer Geoffrey Palmer's legal opinion says that "aspects of the reforms impact directly and negatively on Fish & Game". He goes on to say he considers this bill has the potential to seriously impact on Fish & Game's interests.Hon Member: Who paid him for that?ERICA STANFORD: As we can see tensions are high. And there needs to be a balance between protecting our environment saving our native fish species and allowing New Zealanders to enjoy access to nature to the environment as they've been doing for hundreds of years. It's not one or the other like the Greens would have us believe. In the select committee's process we will need to hear the vital evidence from Fish & Game private landowners recreational fishers and the public. We will take their concerns seriously as it is the first time that they will be heard. With that in mind we look forward to scrutinising this bill at select committee. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker."