I can’t understand how the Government has managed to blame recreational fishers for depleted fishing stock while the Ministry for Primary Industry turns a blind eye to the Industry illegal dumping.

Newshub journalist Michael Morrah has been tireless in exposing the manner in which MPI have deceived and lied to the public…

It all started with a 23-page report. Titled Operation Achilles, the details within it were nothing short of scandalous. MPI’s compliance investigators had cracking evidence of illegal behaviour and wanted to swoop. But senior management stopped that from happening. It appears that some within MPI hoped the 2013 report would never see the light of day – officials knew Kiwis hated hearing about precious resources being wasted. Even more damaging was that fact that they’d already made a decision to let the offending skippers off the hook. But the details did of course go public. Cue the attempts to downplay the report’s significance, and the monotonous reassurances from top officials who insisted that MPI takes illegal activity seriously. Even after it was established by a leading QC that MPI had for years failed to enforce the law, the response from leading politicians was lacklustre and pathetic. What’s really worrying is that the denials of a serious problem have only continued. Prime Minister John Key thinks Minister Nathan Guy has done a “good job”, and Nathan Guy, while “disappointed” with MPI’s failure to prosecute, thinks it’ll all be okay because we’re putting industry-owned cameras on boats. Let’s be clear about what’s happened here – MPI has been busted misleading the public for years about illegal fishing practices in the commercial sector.

…the problem with our depleted fishing stock has nothing to do with recreational fishing and it has everything to do with the fishing industry and a Ministry that is far more interested in hiding the level of illegal fishing and protecting those industry interests rather than hold them to account.

It staggers me that as a nation we have spent more media time crucifying the Rugby Union for not publicly whipping Losi Filipo than we have demanding every MPI employee be arrested for allowing the fishing Industry to burn and pillage our fishing stock.

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There is a word for this, and it is corruption. The fishing industry is well known for its corruption, and that has extended into the Ministry responsible for policing them.

The National Party with its deep links to the Fishing Industry will never ever allow their mates to be scrutinised.