By Randall Bess*
Unless the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) imposes some restrictions on the charter boats operating in the Kaikoura region, the rock lobster fishery could be unsustainable within a couple years, according to local commercial fishers. And they could be right.
Tourists, just like New Zealanders, are allowed to take up to six rock lobsters per person per day. The daily bag limit applies to each person on board a charter boat.
But there are no limits on the number of people taken out each day, the size of charter boats, the number of boats or the number of days they fish each year.
In this situation, the total number of rock lobsters caught can rapidly add up. The extent of the problem is heightened by the growing number of tourists fishing on charter boats.
On Radio New Zealand, Larnce Wichman expressed the concerns of the commercial rock lobster fishers in the Kaikoura region. Lance is working with local charter boat operators and MPI to come up with solutions, which include imposing limits on the total number of rock lobsters a charter boat can take each day.
The situation in Kaikoura is another example of New Zealand’s fisheries starting to face the problems prevalent in most other fishing nations. That is, increasing recreational fishing having a significant impact on sustainability.
In some cases, the recreational catch can equal or exceed the commercial catch, often resulting in tensions and conflicts between recreational and commercial fishers. The management measures that have worked in the past may no longer be sufficient. As a consequence, a management rethink may be needed.
As part of the New Zealand Initiative’s fisheries project aimed at improving New Zealand’s recreational fisheries, I travelled overseas late last year to research how other jurisdictions manage their recreational fisheries.
One visit was to Texas to research the highly-prized recreational red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. Visiting this fishery feels like looking into New Zealand’s future. Recreational fishing demand for red snapper in the Gulf has more than tripled in the last decade.
Emergency reductions in daily bag limits and season length were first introduced in 2014. This year the fishing season in federal waters for private-boat fishers was just three days. The season for charter boats, and the larger party boats, was 49 days.
When the private-boat and for-hire seasons are closed, the harvest of red snapper in federal waters is prohibited. But, there is a novel solution that extends the season for charter boat fishing.
Some dually permitted (charter and commercial) boat operators are fishing year-round for red snapper by using commercial quota. While quota applied to charter boats is not a new idea, the fact that they are operating just like commercial fishing operations is novel.
None of the recreational rules apply, and the fishers on board do not pay for charter services. Because the red snapper caught on a dually permitted boat is counted against quota, it does not count against nor diminish the recreational portion of the total allowable catch.
Since quota is often referred to as “catch shares” in the United States, this type of operation is referred to as the “catch share experience”. The fishers simply place their orders with the fish processor that receives the catch. The fishers then participate in the harvest to fill their orders. When their catch is delivered to the fish processor, the fishers pay the pre-set price for filleted red snapper. No exchange occurs between the fishers and the boat operator. The fishers fish for free and are referred to as “riders.”
I went on a catch share experience fishing trip, leaving from the Texan Port of Galveston. The boat operator, Scott Hickman, also owns the quota that we fished against on board his dually permitted boat. Since it was a commercial fishing trip, Hickman was subject to all Gulf of Mexico quota requirements. These include using a vessel monitoring system to track his movements, giving hail-out and hail-in notices to federal and state authorities, along with estimates of landings on board.
During the fishing trip, each rider caught around 30 red snapper, making it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The red snapper were so abundant that we often caught one within seconds of each hook descending a few metres. This experience is an intriguing example of an unconventional solution that benefits both the recreational and commercial sectors in the Gulf of Mexico.
The same type of solution could be applied to the charter boats in the Kaikoura region and other regions that are experiencing the effects of a growing population and tourism. This solution might well become even more appealing if daily bag limits or season length decrease, and more people are inclined to fish from charter boats.
The New Zealand Initiative is presenting this unconventional solution and others to encourage debate now, before the tensions and conflicts between recreational and commercial fishing worsen any further.
The New Zealand Initiative will release its next fisheries project report in early August, setting out our policy recommendations for improving recreational fishing. During the following few weeks meetings will be held throughout the country to debate the recommendations before they are finalised and presented to the new government late this year. Stay tuned.
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* Randall Bess is a research fellow at The New Zealand Initiative, which produces a fortnightly column for interest.co.nz
7 Comments
Was recently out on a charter getting among some excellent snapper and kingfish. Some of the party had travelled a fair way and were staying nearby, spending on accommodation food and gear. Our group pumped several thousand dollars into the local economy. Up rocks a commercial boat and puts down a set line near us with hundreds of hooks. Two guys employed crewing it. I don't have enough knowledge to figure out which activity generates the best value per fish caught but the one that supports more tourism and jobs for local people, is no contest.
The Kaikoura example is seized on by commercial fishing interests because they have a reasonable case, given the high value export returns generated from commercially caught lobster. Although, again, because many of the fishers going out of Kaikoura are tourists, the value added to the tourism experience needs to be factored in for a true cost benefit analysis comparison of the two types of catching. Limiting charter boats to 2 crays per person would have minimal impact.
But given the commercial industry is crying foul over crays, it's time for more emphasis to be placed on the direct and downstream economic benefits of charter sport catching of fin species vs commercial, and quotas for the premier sports fish categories cut back unless the commercial industry can demonstrate a superior return - not just in monetary terms but also in the economic and employment inputs to local communities.
Some distrust reports from NZ Initiative since they are paid for by a gaggle of businesses - it is rather like the science from scientists paid for by tobacco companies - not wrong but selective. However this article is not pandering to commercial fishing companies and it is raising an important issue worth discussion now not later.
Rock lobster is a traditional coastal product . I would hate to see it end up as it did in Yule Island where the local people had a valuable resource taken away by foreigners with no compensation 30 years ago - their lobsters have never returned.
I hear what you're saying re the NZ initiative. Their continued cheer leading for high levels of non citizen immigration (despite a noticeable lack of evidence of its benefit to the NZ people) creepy globalist agenda and dark money backers is a real concern for many.
Having met Dr. Randall Bess I was impressed with his deep and genuine concern for what happening to our marine environment and understand he operates at some remove from the rest of that organisation. I believe his work is specifically funded by genuinely concerned Kiwis.
Certainly a novel solution and one that has been proven to work; thank you Randall.
I'm afraid we have, in many ways, the worst possible situation here in NZ fisheries management; a weak and captured regulator (MPI) and deeply entrenched positions within the interested parties.
The seafood industry is currently running a TV ad campaign telling us how wonderful they are and winding up with the totally outrageous claim that they are "guardians of the sea"
Nothing could be further from the truth. The seafood industry, aided and abetted by the gutless and fully captured MPI, has deeply compromised our marine environment with species in many areas at or near collapse. The first step should be the removal of MPI from stewardship of the sea (replaced with the conservation dept or environment ministry perhaps) the amateur fishers need to appreciate what is at stake and the overriding priority needs to be a healthy and abundant marine environment here. 10% of natural species abundance is potentially disastrous.
Following below some personnel observations that I have previously shared with Randall Bess, MPI and the Seafood council.
Attention Dr Randall Bess
Hello Randall
I recently discovered the series of articles from you on the state of our inshore fisheries and thought you might find my observations of interest.
This summer saw us, over the course of a month, cruising our wonderful coast from Parengarenga in the north to Great Barrier Island. I am an experienced ( 50 years) boatsman with a keen interest in the marine environment. A few comments/observations:
1/ a very noticeable population decline of our tern (AKA white fronted tern or Tara or kahawai bird) We used to regularly see flocks of a hundred or more these dainty characters. They are now seen as solitary individuals or occasional flocks of no more than are a dozen or so. Very sad and I suspect due to the loss of the kahawai on which they rely to bring their prey to the surface. These are a protected species - how can it be acceptable to knowingly starve them to death.
2/ we observed the wonderful sight of the semi tame snapper and kingfish at Gulf Harbour Marina. I wondered if the snapper are preying on the fan worm and are a possible natural control for this menace. I didn't see any evidence of the fan worm there so perhaps that is occurring and, if so a great opportunity for both the fish and the boat owners.
3/ a noticeable degradation of the reefs and rocky shore systems in reasonably inaccessible areas - the Mokhinaus and east coast of Great Barrier - with large barren areas and a predominance of kina. Very few snapper (and no large ones) or crayfish observed so that would explain the degradation from the last time I had the opportunity to snorkel around there twenty years ago. The balance between predator and prey has collapsed.
4/ From my own experience and speaking with amateur fishermen, what has happened to our mighty Hapuku? They are now effectively extinct on our coast with only the occasional straggler taken as by catch. The fishermen are now targeting their last refuge - deep offshore reefs and canyons. While the commercial hapuku take in our area is now almost nonexistent there is still a bag limit of five fish per amateur angler; this is a total outrage considering the almost complete collapse of the population from their former range. Complete closure of the fishery plus more no take reserves is probably the only way of arresting this tragic decline. With an isolated and declining population these wonderful fish face a very uncertain future and possibly complete extinction in our Northern waters as they are in the Hauraki gulf.
5/ the norther snapper population is very much reduced, you only have to compare the unprotected areas with the reserves - there is no comparison, you hardly see a single fish even in isolated areas. The Goat Island reserve people tell me that the population density outside the reserve is only one fourteenth the size, that equates to more than 90% of the natural population absent. The fishery is very much in danger.
So while fish can still be caught (although is requiring greater effort, bigger boats, more range and more technologically advanced equipment) it is in the effect on other species and habitats that the true state of overfishing can be seen. I firmly believe that what MPI allows and what the fishing industry are doing to protected species (and the resulting serious decline in diversity and balance generally) is illegal and in breach of the act.
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