https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/breakfast/clips/hauraki-gulf-withering-away-on-verge-of-environmental-collapse" rel="nofollow - https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/breakfast/clips/hauraki-gulf-withering-away-on-verge-of-environmental-collapse

1) attempting to recover the system in the Gulf

2) maybe even more importantly, learning from this failure and start protecting the remaining areas where the fish populations are a bit more abundant, e.g. Northland. Now, before its too late.

Fish limits is just one way of addressing these, but definitely not sufficient on its own. For example, even if we go down to three snapper, and have a family of 6 on a boat, that's 18 snapper on one trip for some. There needs to be a complete culture change, a different way of looking at this 'free-to-all' resource that the ocean has been. The pressures of commercial fishing are definitely doing a lot of damage, but we can do much better too. 

Somehow people need to realize that while the fish stocks can be renewable, under the current circumstances they've become a finite resource

I go out with the nephew and normally get our limit,$100 each fuel tackle food bait. 95% of fish is distributed amongst the elderly who cannot afford fish. If limit was reduced drastically might as well support comms and buy fish for elderly.

I know its a pastime but for some it is way of life to feed family,you know 6 in 16 fter 42 snapper goes along way.

Reckon it would come right if we all did our bit. If we all do nothing we'll get a continued deterioration.

PJC your comment is just typical of a recreational who just wont let go of this vs them mentality (rec vs commercial) that is widely propagated by advocacy groups. Yes commercial fishing has a big impact on fish stocks yet if I was to read between the lines you seem to place the blame solely with them and refuse to accept the recreational dont impact on fish stocks. So I gather that the only thing you and know doubt others got from this short interview is that the HG ecosystem is in trouble purely because of commercial fishing and not from any other factors especially those that come from having NZ biggest city right on the door step of the HG

I do see some of the Facebook live feeds etc of charters filling their bins with snapper from the middle Gulf in work up season and wonder how many fish are being taken now using modern lure fishing methods than never used to be - in those depths, and with that regularity. 

A couple of times last spring I came across absolute flotillas of rec boats in Whangaparaoa Bay, between Kawau and Tiri - dozens and dozens of boats with people pulling in fish left right and centre. And afterwards I thought 'man, we're going to have to watch it'.

Thousands of new homes are being built north of the city (it's staggering if you drive north to see them spreading out to the horizon). If a fraction of the new residents have boats (and they certainly will) it's a huge increase in pressure on the northern sector of the fishery. Add all the new homes at Flat Bush, Drury etc and they'll all be heading to Kawakawa Bay/Maraetai.

Of course any potential hit to the commercial take is likely to be watered down as long as some of the current politicians with links to fishing industry are enjoying the 'baubles of office'.

No easy answers. Being staunch in defence of our 'rights as Kiwis' may be flying in the face of the reality.

The rec bag limits are still bonkers. Drop it to 5 per person for Snapper, 1 Kingfish, 10 "other". Still a truckload of fish, especially if there's a few of you on a boat.

Ban inshore trawling and dredging (in fact, ban dredging, period), anything that stuffs the sea-bed. Encourage more selective harvesting methods with higher quality outputs. Not a big fan of purse seiners either, that come along and scoop up whole schools of baitfish that the rest of the foodchain need to snack on.

We're not going to get anywhere when the two sides (comm and rec) just point at each other and say "they should take the cut". Both entities should. We need to encourage some more innovation in the comm fish sector, beyond "take as much as you can and export it"; just look at the live Crayfish export sector, getting way more $ per cray than they were back in the days of whipping the tails off and freezing them. If the cost for the consumer goes up, so be it. The current product being delivered to the average joe via the supermarket tends to be complete **** anyway, from the perspective of someone that tends to eat fish less than 6 hours after it was still swimming. Get quota back in the hands of the people doing the fishing; encourage wharf sales and direct outlets, cut out all the middle-men that are clipping the ticket for doing three-fifths of bugger all. More money in the fishermen's pockets per fish mean they don't have to catch as many to make the same income, sweet as.

As above though, it's fairly obvious that while certain politicians are still taking bribes, err I mean accepting donations, from the big players in the fishing industry, that the status quo is just going to continue.

1st april to 1st september the longliners will be back inshore,clevedon flats,as "Steps" will know plenty of snapper april+ may and a bit of june. not the biggest and a lot of throw back at 29cm just the right size for lomgliners.

I appreciate there are not that many fleets/boats 100% NZ owned, but imagine a NZ fishery that caught fish entirely for NZer's, and the reduction in catch we could colectively make to satisfy our own needs not that of the growing worlds populations. Crayfish included....

 

 

You mean something like this

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/11/we-used-to-be-leaders-the-collapse-of-new-zealands-landmark-ocean-park?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR30eVoVeXAq7l3RE6wxbYyIm0OaaiC-plLJMvBIMwiD622CKzqT4j7OEpA#Echobox=1583923182" rel="nofollow - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/11/we-used-to-be-leaders-the-collapse-of-new-zealands-landmark-ocean-park?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR30eVoVeXAq7l3RE6wxbYyIm0OaaiC-plLJMvBIMwiD622CKzqT4j7OEpA#Echobox=1583923182

Who destroyed the kahawai school during the 70/80s and sold to watties for canned pet food?? not reccs

Who is still catch kahawai and exporting for $1.80/$2.20 for pet food/cray bait??not reccs

Who is using old trawl methods(diamond mesh)so when nst tightens mesh closes and any small under fish gets trapped squashed rendered useless and discarded?? not reccs

Who is using jigs/plastic increased hook size/recurves etc to reduce undersize?? reccs

Non quota holders(contractors)go sea to catch for quota holder to be told the price has droped we dont want your fish now,who then dumps it?? QMS at its finest,not.

comms (vessel owner) need to own quota then be able sell to ever they like,direct off the boat direct resturants etc.

Have a look at the Faroe Islands.

Comms lease from the Govt and able to sell to who ever

https://www.faroeseseafood.com/fishery-aquaculture/fishery-legislation-and-management" rel="nofollow - https://www.faroeseseafood.com/fishery-aquaculture/fishery-legislation-and-management

Thats another fish i used to value,but now largely gone from the gulf.

Kahawai ,now seen in nowhere the numbers they were ,even as late as 2015. Seem to have vanished since then. Where have they gone. I didnt catch them all.

If people want to look at hg gulf fish stocks,then they need to look much further than the gulf. Excepting some reef fish ,most of what we target and catch move into and out from the gulf with the seasons.

Very emotive ,trying to paint a negative picture. 

Words like" withering away ,pathway to oblivion,how badly we have treated the gulf,helping our selves" .

I have not treated the gulf badly. 

PJC good rant but regardless of whether I am an ex commercial or not, in my opinion the fact still remains and your reply backs up my comment. Recreational refuse to accept any blame what's so ever in any demise of the HG let alone in any other area of NZ that has a high population. Yes commercial had a huge impact on fish stocks pre QMS especially in the 70's & 80's there's no denying that but what of the many historic photos that occasionally pop up from, time to time showing great numbers of fish especially snapper caught by recreational back in the 50's & 60's know doubt our fathers & grandfathers probably thought that things would be OK for their future generations. Both sectors have over the years seen many changes in the way they catch fish and please dont tell me that all rec's use the methods you describe, a lot still fish old school, j hooks and bait.

Please tell me just what exactly have all the advocacy groups have actually achieved other than to further propagate the anti commercialism sentiment and before you comment back stating the Kahawai Legal Challenge and the Bill fish moratorium, I see little else achieved.

Also what does the Faroe Island have to do with the way NZ fisheries are managed given that their population is less in size than a lot of NZ cities.

I had a MPI fisheries guy mention something very similar to this many years ago.

Why have a size limit as long as you stick to bag limits, this would solve a lot of undersize fish being kept by some ethnic groups who prefer the smaller fish.

I believe that what msl are set for but still doesn't mean to say that there isn't room for discussion around lowering limits. Bare in mind most New Zealanders would only take fish of a reasonable size and that we already have varying size limits for around the country

Is also the same reason i refuse to buy " bullet Tuna" for bait.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/120381250/fisherman-takes-shot-at-govts-aquaculture-goal-and-its-environmental-myth" rel="nofollow - https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/120381250/fisherman-takes-shot-at-govts-aquaculture-goal-and-its-environmental-myth

 

Kahawai is also in good shape. Last assessed in 2015. 

 

Another thought. How safe to eat are fish from the inner gulf,upper harbour ,and for that matter manukau harbour or any urban harbour .

Has any testing of sediment ever been done.

Noticed this week that renewed warnings from sydney not to eat fish from above harbour bridge,and limit consumption from other areas due to high dioxin,heavy metals and other cancer causing substance in sediment that gets into the food chain and thus the fish which people consume.

Could it be similar here.

report february 2020

Well worth the read,

 We are taking more fish commercially. The total reported commercial catch of fish in the most recent threeyear period was around 30% greater than in three-years before Marine Park was established. The mix of fish caught commercially in the Park has shifted. There has been a major shift in the relative proportions of the two key fish species landed commercially. Around 34% less tāmure (snapper) and 470% more blue mackerel were landed in the latest 3-year period compared to when the Park was established. The increase in blue mackerel is likely to reflect changes in where they are being caught (i.e. in the Marine Park), rather than a change in the overall catch.

Stocks of some fish species have needed rebuilding. Tāmure and tarakihi were at levels where action was needed to actively rebuild their stocks (less than 20% of unfished stock biomass). Actions have been taken, and the rebuild of these stocks towards target levels is expected.

Tamure is snapper.

Very one sided article largely aimed at commercial & development but no reference to recreational fishes in the opening statement.

Interesting to note though reading further down, yet recreational gulf fishers dont think their part of the problem.

https://www.mpi.govt.nz/dmsdocument/28365-recreational-fishing-surveys-explained-were-counting-on-you

 Interesting chart.thanks for putting it up. Big variation in mercury levels between areas. bop seems high. would the paper mills have any thing to do with that. Big difference between AK east and west coast

Wonder if testing has been done for dioxins,pcbs etc.

Fish caught in the harbour I would think would be safe as most are visitors Any time we have a toxic bloom it is always mentioned not to take pipi/cockle/scallop+ mussels probably due to being filters

Croc - I suspect the mercury (Hg) levels will remain high, for a long time. The problem was it got into the system in the first place. Generally fairly tightly bound to sediments etc. Got nowhere else to go in terms of biodegradability. Only way out is via the harvested biomass or pollution by dilution - cleaner sediment.  Not sure what the origin would be - industrial of some sort I guess. Stormwater.