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waterfront business No fin freight for Air New Zealand in brief… INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE, AIR New Zealand, has made the decision to stop freighting shark fins. Under New Zealand law, it is legal to catch a shark, kill it, cut off its fins, and dump the unused body overboard. Representatives from seven of the eight political parties in Parliament signed a pledge in November last year committing their support for a law change to ban shark finning in New Zealand. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have both recently announced that they will no longer carry shark fins. Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Air Pacific – which is currently rebranding to Fiji Airways – have made similar commitments, but which leave some potential loopholes. New Zealand is one of the world's top 20 exporters of shark fins. At the end of July in Christchurch, 17-year-old Jordan Shaskey and 15-yearold Bridget White organised a protest Manui hits the bank against shark finning in New Zealand waters. The protest included a variety of activists from both conservation and animal rights groups as well as the general public. Karli Thomas of Greenpeace says that now our national carrier has said "no" to carrying shark fin exports, it's time for the Government to do what it should have done long ago, and ban shark finning from New Zealand waters. Blueprint for recreational fishing THE LAUNCH OF FISHinFuture Search "positive change for recreational fishing" may have a unique approach and some answers for the debate on the snapper fisheries of Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. In February this year, 66 diverse participants from the recreational fishing communities of New Zealand gathered in Nelson for the first FISHinFuture Search conference. A steering group was established to promote eight common ground statements to cover key aspects of the path forward; to inspire the whole of New Zealand to buy-in and support a new way of recreational fishing and to develop independent sources of funding for a new national body. Don Boddie, Chair, says: "Our first objective was to publish a report, recording the journey leading up to the Nelson conference and to outline to our fishing communities, the shared vision for the future and the way forward agreed at Nelson." The report can be found online at www.fishinfuturesearch.co.nz "We wish to be included in the proposed discussion that the Minister has signalled in the media last week; concerning the state of the Snapper fishery in Auckland and the Bay of Plenty," says Boddie. "We further believe we can inject a common purpose of unity and direction into the consultative process that the Minister of Fisheries is to engage in next month." Ross Sea remains unprotected FOR THE SECOND time New Zealand and United States negotiators have failed to convince the 25 member countries of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to create a reserve in the Ross Sea closing off 2.27 million sq km to fishing. The New Zealand and United States proposal aimed to make fishery in the Ross Sea more sustainable by keeping vessels away from historical fishing www.skipper.co.nz grounds and spawning areas. The Commission, which regulates the seas around Antarctica, met in Bremerhaven, Germany, where delegates from Russia and Ukraine voiced concern over the fishing restrictions. There are already restrictions in the Ross Sea, with a quota in place of 3,800 tonnes a year. The proposal will be debated again in Hobart, in October. Strong winds on July 26 saw mooring lines snap on the Manui as in the inner harbour at Nelson. The former tugboat ended up on a sandbank in the Nelson Haven off Atawhai. Pilot boat Waimea II went to aid the vessel believed to have arrived from Tonga a few months prior. Nelson Harbourmaster Dave Duncan said a responsible boat owner would have ensured that this had not happened. Southern Discovery's cat delivery A four-man crew set out across the Tasman Sea to deliver the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown to New Zealand. The estimated three-day journey was expected to be bumpy, as "she's not an ocean liner", said Southern Discoveries general manager John Robson. The final destination for the vessel is Queenstown's Lake Wakatipu, where it will ferry up to 150 passengers from Queenstown across the lake to Mt Nicholas Station. On arrival in Bluff, the cat will be partly dismantled for the journey to Kingston for launch. Allegations in BOP At a public council meeting, Bay of Plenty mooring owners alleged mismanagement of the regional council's swing mooring system by local contractor Nick Gear. The mooring owners claimed that the wrong chain type is being used on moorings in and around Tauranga, and also that the contractor's barge is not certificated, making the mooring inspections invalid. Mooring owner Neville Harris believes the chain being used by the contractor is not the stipulated PWB chain and quickly rusts away causing boats to break free from their moorings. The mooring owners also question the validity of the biennial Sea Quest Marine Limited inspections, saying inspections made by Sea Quest employees instead of by the named contractor are invalid. Nick Gear of Sea Quest Marine Limited refuted the allegations, saying that they were false and that Sea Quest Marine is preparing a legal response. Nick commented that he and Sea Quest Marine Limited would be actively assisting the regional council in their investigations. September/October 2013 Professional Skipper 55