Bluefin tuna limit now one

Anglers will only be able to keep one southern bluefin tuna a day, Fisheries New Zealand has decided.

From 1 June 2019, the recreational southern bluefin tuna fishery will have a daily bag limit of one southern bluefin tuna per person, per day.

Acting director of fisheries management Steve Halley says this is the first time that a catch limit has been put in place for the recreational southern bluefin tuna fishery and reflects the need to carefully manage the rebuild of this stock.

“Estimates of recreational catch in this fishery have been low in previous years, however, in July 2017 we saw a substantial increase in how much was being caught.

“Following consultation and having received responses from tangata whenua and submissions from stakeholders, Fisheries New Zealand advised the Minister of Fisheries to introduce a daily limit for the recreational fishery.

“Introducing a bag limit will ensure that New Zealand continues to meet its international obligations under the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).

“New Zealand is a founding member of CCSBT, which regionally manages this highly migratory species and we have an obligation to manage our catch of southern bluefin tuna within our national allocation.

“Fisheries New Zealand will be looking at longer-term measures to manage this fishery, but in the interim, a bag limit will be in place until we understand more about this highly variable developing fishery,” says Mr Halley.

In 2017 the East Cape area in particular and the east coast region in general ‘went off’ in terms on the recreational fishing with a huge number of trailerboat anglers descending on the likes of Waihau Bay.

It was an angling frenzy with crews often going under-prepared to look after their catch which often included multiple fish, resulting in wastage as well as the recreational TAC being well-exceeded. Although the last winter ‘season’ was a poor one in comparison, the reduction in bag limit is, in part, a reaction to 2017’s activity.