Tisch Lindsay: Fisheries Amendment Bill (No 4) — In Committee 
Tisch Lindsay: Fisheries Amendment Bill (No 4) — In Committee 
[Volume:619;Page:14562] 
LINDSAY TISCH (National—Piako) 
: 
 I was not on the Primary Production Committee but I do like fish and I do like scampi. It is interesting to see the different pictures of scampi that that my colleague Phil Heatley has with him. There are some very good ones and they clearly identify what we are talking about here. As he said they have different names in different countries. There is another name here that I cannot pronounce because it is in Japanese. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: We are debating clause 66 “Interpretation” and over the dinner break I did some research and made a remarkable discovery about the word “scampi” in my trusty  
Concise Oxford Dictionary 
 ninth edition. The dictionary states that it is the foremost authority on current English so I thought there would be no better place to find out about scampi. I looked up “scampi” on page 1231 and I found that “scamp” has a number of derivatives. As mentioned earlier there is a Latin name for scampi and going back to the days when I learnt Latin many years ago—[ 
Interruption 
] I learnt “amoamasamatamamusamatisamantmoneomonesmonetmonemusmonetismonent”. I found in the dictionary that a “scamp” is a rascal or a rogue. Further on it states that “scamper” is to run or skip impulsively or playfully. Then we come to “scampi”. As we go from “scamp” to “scamper” to “scampi”—those are the Latin derivatives—we find that a scampi is a Norway lobster. 
Hon Members 
: What? 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: It is a Norway lobster. There is no better reference than this dictionary. A scampi is a Norway lobster. 
The work I have here the  
Guidebook to New Zealand Commercial Fish Species 
 which I quoted from earlier—Phil Heatley was the instigator of this—has in it some very glossy pictures showing what scampi look like. I like fish—although I cannot tell the difference between a scampi and a prawn—so long as they taste nice. That is indicative is it not? I am not interested in what the cover of a book looks like; it is whatever is inside it that is the main thing. And so it is when I look at scampi and prawns. I note that other names for scampi are mentioned in the book. I did not have time to catch up on my Japanese during the dinner break but in Italy and the UK they are also known as scampi. I think it is significant that the explanatory note states that scampi has an average size of 25 to 30 centimetres overall that from the end of the tail to the tip of the rostrum—I do not know what that means—it is about 16 to 21 centimetres that the abdomen is about 3 centimetres in diameter and that large scampi weigh over 100 grams. In the interpretation— 
Hon Dover Samuels 
: Has the member ever eaten scampi? 
LINDSAY TISCH 
: I have eaten lobster. In Norway it is called lobster. The book states that scampi is a lobster not a prawn. So that is clear and it corresponds with Norway lobster or Dublin Bay—I thought that was a wine—prawn. 
The book describes scampi as being whitish or pinkish with darker orange strips at the joints that the rostrum is long and upward curved with a strong spine and that it has large eyes. I am sure that clearly identifies it. It states that scampi are widely dispersed around New Zealand that experimental fishing has been conducted from the Bay of Plenty northwards using specialised deepwater trawlers and that the largest prawn-like species in New Zealand waters are likely to be the main species of any possible future fishery for prawns. This is a very good book. It refers to other fish but I will not go into that because it is not part of the debate. 
It is interesting to note that the  
Concise Oxford Dictionary 
 does not refer to those other areas. It states that scampi are from Norway. So what I found out over the dinner break was interesting. As I said earlier I was not on the Primary Production Committee. Gathering this information has been a steep learning curve for me. I have certainly learnt a lot by going through the  
Guidebook to New Zealand Commercial Fish Species 
 and also by going back to the dictionary. 
With those few thoughts I will finish. Suffice it to say I appreciate what scampi are compared with prawns. All the different interpretations and names here are significant but I am aware now of what the issue is. When we discuss the other clauses and especially the schedules we will talk about those who will actually fish the zones. I think that will highlight the issues we face and the reasons National is supporting the bill.