Art inspired by the oceans
I'm delighted to be here today. Seaweek is about raising awareness of the coast and ocean and asking New Zealanders to help look after our local marine areas.
Recreational fishing is part of our heritage. Almost all of us go fishing some time in our lives. But with a growing population we are putting more pressure on our fisheries. In some areas we have already seen the effect of over-fishing.
Some inshore fisheries have been nearly fished out. We've had to make new rules to ensure that we have enough fish for us now - and just as importantly, to make sure there are enough for our future needs as well.
We all know and like the idea behind the 'take a kid fishing' campaign - but our kids won't be impressed with us if we don't leave enough fish for them to catch.
This Ministry of Fisheries schools art competition is part of thinking about the future. It helps encourage tomorrow's fishers to think about how we will ensure there are fish for them, with care and management of the resource.
Seaweek for 2007 will start this Sunday (4 March). The theme for this year is 'One Ocean - It starts here'.
We only have one ocean. Taking care of it starts with today and the fishers who will use the ocean in the future.
They will learn from our respect (or lack of it) for the ocean. The better we can respect it, the better we will ensure the resource is available for them in future.
There are so many species of fish that we know about and plenty for us yet to discover - we've just had a good example of the strange sea creatures dwelling in the ocean: The colossal squid that was caught off our shores recently.
It excited imagination and attention around the world. I've never had so many calls about one topic.
And this ocean environment and all these creatures are capable of sparking the artistic imagination. It's great to see how this art competition has been so popular.
It's had over a hundred entries from schools around the country. It's clear all the students have put a lot of time, effort and thought into their artworks. I've been very impressed by what I have seen. These artworks, in turn, will help to remind all New Zealanders how precious our ocean environment and its inhabitants are.
Congratulations to all those student artists. You're playing an important role in helping to preserve this precious resource. I congratulate you on your art and wish you lots of good fishing fun for the future.
Recreational fishing is part of our heritage. Almost all of us go fishing some time in our lives. But with a growing population we are putting more pressure on our fisheries. In some areas we have already seen the effect of over-fishing.
Some inshore fisheries have been nearly fished out. We've had to make new rules to ensure that we have enough fish for us now - and just as importantly, to make sure there are enough for our future needs as well.
We all know and like the idea behind the 'take a kid fishing' campaign - but our kids won't be impressed with us if we don't leave enough fish for them to catch.
This Ministry of Fisheries schools art competition is part of thinking about the future. It helps encourage tomorrow's fishers to think about how we will ensure there are fish for them, with care and management of the resource.
Seaweek for 2007 will start this Sunday (4 March). The theme for this year is 'One Ocean - It starts here'.
We only have one ocean. Taking care of it starts with today and the fishers who will use the ocean in the future.
They will learn from our respect (or lack of it) for the ocean. The better we can respect it, the better we will ensure the resource is available for them in future.
There are so many species of fish that we know about and plenty for us yet to discover - we've just had a good example of the strange sea creatures dwelling in the ocean: The colossal squid that was caught off our shores recently.
It excited imagination and attention around the world. I've never had so many calls about one topic.
And this ocean environment and all these creatures are capable of sparking the artistic imagination. It's great to see how this art competition has been so popular.
It's had over a hundred entries from schools around the country. It's clear all the students have put a lot of time, effort and thought into their artworks. I've been very impressed by what I have seen. These artworks, in turn, will help to remind all New Zealanders how precious our ocean environment and its inhabitants are.
Congratulations to all those student artists. You're playing an important role in helping to preserve this precious resource. I congratulate you on your art and wish you lots of good fishing fun for the future.