Media Release
For immediate publication

18 August 2006

Fisheries Ignorance Tackled

Many New Zealanders are concerned about the pressure on coastal fisheries, marine resources, and the lack of knowledge and understanding of fisheries law.

To address this a multilingual website www.fish4nz.co.nz has been designed to help people to understand how they can help protect the fisheries and marine environment.

Some key areas have been identified where there is a lack of information within many communities:
- How the fisheries are managed
- Fishing rules and regulations
- Identifying fish species
- What are marine reserves, mataitai, taiapure and rahui
- Safety in and around the water
- Common Maori terms and words
- Recreational fishers responsibilities

The site, www.fish4nz.co.nz, is available in the following languages:
- English
- Maori
- Chinese
- Vietnamese
- Korean
- Samoan
- Japanese

It is planned to expand the number of languages in the future.

option4 and the Hokianga Accord have launched this initiative as the first step towards bringing this information to the widest possible audience.

option4 is an organisation that has been working to ensure that recreational fishing rights and access are preserved for all New Zealanders.

The Hokianga Accord is the mid-north Maori fisheries Forum that includes the Ngapuhi and Ngati Whatua iwi. Other northern hapu and tribal groups are also involved with the Accord.

The Accord’s goal is “more fish in the water” Kia maha atu nga ika i roto te wai”.

Support of the Accord has enabled innovative features such as a glossary of Maori terms translated into six other languages. With an emphasis on safe fishing tips and how to recognise different fish species it is envisaged the website will become a valuable education tool for all New Zealanders.

ENDS

option4
www.option4.co.nz

Hokianga Accord
http://option4.co.nz/Fish_Forums/hokianga.htm

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