Great Interview by Matt Watson
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Briny Bar
Forum Description: The place for general chat on saltwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=140029
Printed Date: 27 May 2026 at 2:11pm
Topic: Great Interview by Matt Watson
Posted By: out2sea
Subject: Great Interview by Matt Watson
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 11:40am
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Great interview by Matt Watson. Worth the watch and share. Hopefully its seen by many. https://www.stuff.co.nz/Why%20New%20Zealand%E2%80%99s%20most%20famous%20fisherman%20is%20telling%20people%20to%20%E2%80%98order%20the%20chicken%E2%80%99" rel="nofollow - https://www.stuff.co.nz/Why%20New%20Zealand%E2%80%99s%20most%20famous%20fisherman%20is%20telling%20people%20to%20%E2%80%98order%20the%20chicken%E2%80%99 |
Replies:
Posted By: Phantom Menace
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 1:29pm
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The link didn't work for me but I found the article. Hopefully this link works: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/360816644/why-new-zealands-most-famous-fisherman-telling-people-order-chicken" rel="nofollow - https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/360816644/why-new-zealands-most-famous-fisherman-telling-people-order-chicken |
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 2:09pm
| I agree with Mr Watson. In no other area of food production is wildlife harvested at such industrial scale. Having said that, the export market has been forgotten here. What proportion of fish caught in NZ waters is exported overseas? Kiwis making the "right" choice might make little difference. Any reduction in the domestic market would probably see an increase in fish exported. Lose, lose. |
Posted By: Pcj
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 4:01pm
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Same old dribble just been rehashed over the yrs. Anyone actually watch Ocean Bounty or simular shows?? Yes been a few mishaps snaring coral/rocks etc but overall not too bad. Anyone realy taken notice of the damage us reccs do in the way fish are released,seen a number of charter boats at the farm,grab fish rip hook out throw overboard like a bit of rubbish. We are still buying bait so supporting industry but its ok ,most of the pilchards etc are from overseas,old adage not in my backyard so turn a blind eye. How many fish did Watson kill with his catch n release from barotraume,rember a single show filmed over weeks Good and Bad practices on both sides. ------------- "Times up" |
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 8:44pm
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The bait industry is a problem. A lot of bait is still sourced locally. I don't understand why anglers would undermine their own fishery by buying bait. Also agree that recreational anglers are not blameless. You don't have to look hard to see terrible catch & release fish handling. Regarding snapper, I don't like the "release the big breeders" mentality that is pushed and pushed on social media, especially where people are fishing in deepwater. You might as well try and release hapuka. Also pulling up dozens of snapper in workups just to release them. What's the point? Having said all that, it's a question of scale. If the article is correct, 96% fish removed from the ocean are taken commercially. |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 9:12pm
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I'm not quite at Mr Watson's level but IMO the pilchard fishery in the Hauraki Gulf was the single biggest problem with that fishery. What happened to those pilchards? Well they were bought by us recreational fishers & then we go and blame the commercial guys! I don't even know if that fishery is still going. It was huge in the 80's I know that much. Can we even get NZ pilchards now? I honestly don't know because I seldom buy bait. Anyway, to me that is the irony of the anti comm fishery attitude that many of us recreational fishers have. We are a major part of the problem that goes way beyond what most people think. We bitch about it but we buy the bait. That bait is pretty much at the top of the food chain. Undernourished snapper anyone? ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Keith C
Date Posted: 15 Sep 2025 at 9:33pm
| Imported bait and imported seafood suitable for bait which is sold in the fish/deli section in supermarkets (bullet tuna, pilchards, squid, octopus) is very often cheaper than buying NZ-caught bait. And the local stuff is often in a worse condition. |
Posted By: Tzer
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 5:24am
Typical ploy by those who are anti commercial quoting figures that recreational only catch 4% while the commercial take is 96%. This 96% I would imagine includes the tatal catch caught in the deepwater fishery which skues the actual ratio or rec vs commercial. I have no time for I love myself watson who sounds just like the looney greens advocating to distroy peoples livelyhoods by saying order the chicken not the fish.
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MB wrote:Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 7:05am
Yes, I thought that might be the case. I guess it's still relevant if you are worried about the environment as a whole rather than just fishing opportunities. Do you know what the relative take of inshore species is for recreational and commercial fishing? Also, what percentage of the commercial catch of these species is exported? I'm just interested.
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Posted By: out2sea
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 12:00pm
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If what matt watson is talking is dribble, Shane Jones must have a rubbish dump in his lap with the amount of garbage that falls out of his mouth Interviews of his are painful to watch as he seems to just make up justifications on the spot. Im a seafarer and I work with a lot of ex commercial fisherman and do my revalidation training regularly with current commercial fisherman. I have yet to hear a positive story from any of them. I have nothing against commercial fishing but it needs to be done in a sustainable and honest way. At the moment it seems paying fines is just a cost of doing business. I do believe recreational anglers play a role too, places like the hauraki gulf, bay of Islands, coromandle and others have a massive recreational pressure that impacts the fishery likely more than the commercial pressure in the same area. You see it where big fish spots become popular. Where trophy catches seemed the norm, after a few years the same quality of fish just isn't there and trophy fish aby aecreational fishers aren't using destructive fishing methods and certainly not on a large scale. If you look at most of the collapsed fisheries a lot are commercial only or have recovered since reducing commercial take or reducing commercial fishing methods. Orange Roughy, Hauraki Gulf and Coromandle scallops, Golden Bay snapper are some examples. It hard to argue that commercial fishing is even giving back through jobs created and employment with recent closures of coating plant in Nelson and the use of foreign crewed ships to catch quotas. Its all negatively affecting the environment for increasly less positive input to local economies rather than just maximising profit for a select few operators. |
Posted By: Kandrew
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 8:15pm
| That’s why we should lure fish more, the cost of bait is just ridiculous. For a bag of pillies I can buy a micro jig that will last for months. |
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2025 at 9:38pm
I've fished a bit around the world and think we have some of the best lure fishing on the planet*, yet most people seem content with soaking a bait. It's not for me, but each to their own. Anyway, we're going off topic. *With the omission of sight fishing. I know we get occasional opportunities, but it's not a regular thing in saltwater.
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Posted By: Pcj
Date Posted: 18 Sep 2025 at 12:34pm
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https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/the-gentle-net?%20" rel="nofollow - https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/the-gentle-net?
------------- "Times up" |