OCTOBER 08'

In May a group of delegates from the Leigh Association attended the Seafic conference in Wellington and celebrated 50 years of The New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen. The book "Tides of Change" by Jenny Haworth was launched describing the first 50 years of the New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen. The shipwreck auction raised a massive $32,000. The "Shovel" was returned and will now be mounted at Seafic. It was good to catch up with other fishermen and find out about different aspects of the industry.

Our AGM was held on the 13th June 2008 at the Rodney Rams League club. Dave McIntosh was elected as our new president. Dave Ashton was thanked for his 2 years of service as president and remains as the immediate past president. The door prize of a ten night camper hire in the south island was won by Betty and Malcolm Pinkney, good on them for travelling the distance to the AGM.

Congratulations to Malcolm Gunton and Mark Dellow, who were the 2 candidates that won the ILM scholarship at Mahurangi Technical Institute 2008. They both were successful and it is good to see some younger skippers coming into the industry. Congratulations.

We have two annual allocations for ILM courses per year. If you are interested in sitting your skipper’s ticket just contact Cindy and she will give you all the information that you will need. The next course will be in February 2009. This course is sponsored by Leigh Fisheries Ltd, Mahurangi Technical Institute and Leigh Commercial Fishermen's Association.

For all our members, we have available a variety of fishing stock for you to purchase at a discounted price, such as paint, weights, backbone, hooks & other sundry items. This service is not exclusive to the Leigh Port; all members can take advantage of it. For further information please contact Mark Aitken in Leigh and he will be able to help you out.

A major concern to everyone is the price of fuel and access to it. The Association is looking into the feasibility of bulk supply within the Leigh Association and possibly nationwide through Federation. With many of the oil companies pulling out of marine wharf supplies; it may be an opportunity to make a deal with 1 supplier. We have to first find out the amount of fuel the fleet is using, therefore we will be contacting all our members for this information. So if you are contacted it is for your benefit to supply the information. We welcome any input or suggestions from our members.

Species under consideration for introduction into the quota management system on 1 October 2009 are Octopus, Carpet Shark, Javelinfish, Rattails, Redbait, Large ostrich foot whelk, Hammerhead shark, Orange perch, Seal shark, Silver dory. We have written a submission against these species being introduced.

Fish stocks being reviewed for sustainability 1 October 2008 are Orange Roughy (3B) and Bluenose (area 1, 2, 3, 7, 8,). We will endeavor to keep bluenose fishermen informed.

The next first aid courses being run at Mahurangi Technical Institute are on Monday 8th September and Monday 16th November 2008 for a one day refresher. Full first aid courses (2 days) are on the 21st / 22nd August in the Bay of Islands and the 28th / 29th October and the 8th / 9th December at Mahurangi Tech in Warkworth. These first aid courses can be subsidised by SITO, the 2 day first aid course is $59 and for the refresher the SITO subsidy is being worked out. If you would like to enquire about any other training courses at SITO please contact Sharon Larsen on (04) 8021843 or on http://www.sito.co.nz.

The tragic events leading to the loss of San Cuvier and two of her crew, reminds us all how unforgiving the sea can be and condolences are extended to Rick Joseph's and Damien Wyatt's families and the 2 surviving crew members, Chasson Manukau and Thomas Tepania. Damien Wyatt (Beef as he was known) was a member of the Leigh Association and was on the boat in a relieving position. It brings the tragedy very close to home. So please be safe out there.

The executive committee meet once a month on the last Friday of every month, we will be updating our website monthly after each meeting so if you have any issues that are important to you, and you wish it to be discussed at the meeting, please let Cindy know prior to the meeting and she will add it to the agenda. An invitation is extended to all our members to join us at our monthly meeting should they wish to attend.