I have been diving and fishing in the Marl. Sounds for a few years now and i'm a bit desturbed about the present hype on the depletion of our cod stocks.
When i first started diving the inner sounds it was an occasion to see a fin fish other than spotty's.However in the last two scallop season i have foundthat 90% of my dives involve swimming with other species.
I am regularly swimming with sea perch this year being the first for this species,Terakhi,Leather Jacket,Carpet Shark,Kawhai,and numerous amount of Blue cod.
To catch my family a feed of cod is possible no more than 10 minutes from Waikawa with sizes up to 4.5 lbs not bad.New Years Day saw me out 10 mins swimming with a good number of cod yet none where taken.Are they still there ? YES.Are they depleted?I don't no but i see more now than ever before.
I believe we may need to watch our MAF brothers and watch we are not SHAFTED as we were with our Snapper.