Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

LETTERS CONTINUED It then stated the skipper was looking for'ard and then there was a collision. There is only one explanation for this. Neither the skipper nor Dolphin Watch guides were keeping a proper watch at the time. This is a serious incident with some 11 lives being put severely at risk. From the outside, it would appear this incident is going to be swept under the carpet by Maritime New Zealand. The most basic responsibility of any skipper or helmsman is to keep a proper watch at all times, and for either of them to say they were looking for'ard at the time just does not ring true with me. The cutter was plainly visible from a minimum of one mile. If Maritime NZ has swept this under the carpet I believe a grave injustice has been done to every other commercial skipper in Marlborough who carries the travelling public. I am well aware of the consequences of not keeping watch, as I too was subject to the same investigation process at one time, although minor. The rules are still the rules and we must all abide by them. I have been in the industry for some 15 years and have skippered water taxis for an estimated 950,000 miles in this most beautiful part of Godzone. RM (Dick) Chapman, Picton SUPPORT NETWORK Dear Sir Thank you for your world-class magazine. As one of the grey- haired fleet of those involved in marine search and rescue, I found your article Rescue Craft Tames Wild Cape very interesting and congratulate their initiatives. Through your publication, as a member (and secretary) of Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue, I am interested in contacting individual volunteer marine search and rescue groups with the view of mutual group support to share ideas, experiences and new SAR equipment opportunities, etc. Email dnmsar@xtra.co.nz Rowan Leck, Dunedin CHARTER OPERATORS Dear Sir I have been reading your magazine since the beginning and find it very informative and helpful. It is an interesting attitude from some commercial fishermen who seem to have little understanding of what we charter operators provide. We do not get paid per kilo for the fish our clients catch; we get paid for providing Joe Public with a platform to catch their own legal entitlement, regardless of how many kilos they catch. This adds to the workload of various reports we have to do in our operation for various government departments, on top of trying to entertain a dozen or so clients, something commercial fishermen do not have to do or even consider. If the results were truly accurate then that would be perfect, but I defy any skipper to keep an eye on so many people catching and throwing back fish and keeping an accurate record not only of what they have caught, but also what they have thrown back, without employing another crewmember. Quite frankly, the clients don't give a toss about the accuracy of the reporting, so therefore the results are misleading and scientifically flawed. Also, I wonder what response the government would have had if the onus was put on Joe Public to report their own catch? Reminds me of Manapouri all over again. INCORRECT LEVY Dear Sir 4 Professional Skipper July/August 2011 r Richard Abernethy, Te Anau How many of you, as a self-employed person, have tried to get anything out of the Accident Compensation Corporation lately? If you have managed to get any benefit from them you would be one of the very few. Last year we received an invoice from the ACC for around $1000, claiming they had incorrectly calculated our levies for the past three years and this is what we owed them! (I can imagine the answer if we invoiced someone three years after the event.) After arguing the point and finding out what levy they had me on, I was told I was a fishing boat skipper, which is apparently one of the more hazardous occupations. After I told them I had never been and never will be a fishing boat skipper, they agreed to re-assess my levy code. Two weeks later I received another invoice for $300. That's not so bad, I thought. But no, it was to be added to the previous invoice, making a total of $1300 owed. Then it was "Pay up, or have the debt collector call." I told them I spent about 85 percent of my working time writing and the remainder boating, but not as a fishing boat skipper, but was told if my income from the most dangerous occupation exceeds five percent of your total income, your ACC levy is rated on that. The problem is that our combined incomes had been going into the same company account, which meant everything we earned was being levied at the top rate. For the past year I have been trying to find out exactly what that is. It has been very difficult, because it seems the ACC is very reluctant to put it in print for me, but after many phone calls to them I was told it appears around 2.8 percent of our income goes to the corporation. Because they will not differentiate between my various sources of income, (even though we advised them), the only way to get around the problem of having your total income levied at the high rate is to form another company into which all of your non-boating earnings go. With many small charter boat operators not making all of their income from their boat, and topping earnings up from other sideline jobs with all their money going into the one company account, it would pay them to check with the ACC exactly what levy rate they are on. Don't expect a quick answer, though! Last December I managed to damage my back while at a gym. I suffered a very painful herniated disc, but the ACC is telling me it was a result of a degenerative condition and so I am not covered. Yeah, right! The degenerative condition is called a leg press and they can be found at every gym. My osteopath says they are a major source of income for him. I was advised this by an ACC consultant (not a doctor) who also said she knew more about my back than the two osteopaths who had worked on me. I thought my ears had deceived me and I should get them tested under ACC perhaps. But as I get giddy when going around in circles I don't think I will. I'll just keep on paying my high levies from my dangerous occupation to the ACC (Always Collect Cash) until a degenerative condition affects my cheque-signing hand. Mike Pignéguy, Auckland MAORI QUOTA Kia ora I love fishing and diving! I own a 5.5m Plylite offshore vessel called Hawaiki Tu and am recently based in Motueka. I am a skipper and intend to continue my lifelong passion, catching kai for the table and sharing my enjoyment of fishing with friends and newcomers, so I am a descendent of Tangaroa. I have just read your article, Why are slaves catching our fish? A great mariner mentor and friend of mine, David Andrew, based in Gisborne, always spoke of these mother ships raping and pillaging our resources. He chorused your

• Cover