b'.the commercial fishing sector reported landings of over 338,000 tonnes of kaimoana. Even if the estimates for recreational harvest were wildly inaccurate, the numbers create good context. We could comfortably add 10,000 tonnes to the recreational harvest estimate and we would still be just a fraction of how much fish is being taken out of the water.polling, economic forecasting, andExcept you can. Thats quiteDECLINING CATCH TRENDscientific research worldwide. literally the foundation ofSo, what does the data present? Just because you havent beenpopulation statistics. You justOver the past decade the surveyed doesnt mean the dataneed a large, random sample andThe National Panel Survey is flawed. It means you werenta sound modelboth of whichshows that recreational in the random sample. Thatsthis methodology delivers. Theircatch is on a declining trend, not a failure of statisticsthatsresults arent guesswork; theyrenot increasing. In 2018, the how statistics works. independently reviewed andestimated recreational harvest And yet, somehow, this is wherepublished in scientific literature. was around 9,000 tonnes. By the conversation ends up asTheres more transparency in2023, it had dropped to around we see comments such as: these recreational estimates5,000 tonnes. This matches I fish over 200 days a year, andthan in much of the commercialwhat many everyday fishers Ive never been asked what I caught.reporting system, where issueshave been telling us: there The figures are just not correct. such as underreporting, illegalare fewer people fishing, and You cant just take 10% of fishersdiscards, and spatial misreportingits getting harder to catch and multiply it. Thats not data. are frustratingly persistent. dinner to feed our whnau. /FISHINGINGODZONE43'