Welcome to the FryUp – a regular look back at the week of fishing in the news.
The future of fishing
We’re all concerned with just how many fish are taken from the oceans each year and what that means for the future of fishing.
Will we see an abundant future where our children and grandchildren can fish for food and fun, or will we see a collapse of fish stocks to the point where we have to outlaw all fishing to help save what species we can?
For one commercial fisher, the news about dumping fish at sea was no surprise but he’s decided to try to do something about it.
Karl Warr has been working to find a solution to the problem through exploring alternative designs for trawl nets and he’s come up with a solution that might just help boost the fortunes of artisanal fishers and help reduce the waste we’ve come to expect from the industrial guys.
Karl’s net looks more like a shopping trolley than a traditional fishing net. It’s rectangular in shape, rather than diamond shaped, and its open frame allows smaller fish to escape more easily. No more crushed fish, way less undersized catch to be thrown back overboard.
You’d think MPI would be overjoyed to find a commercial fisher keen to reduce waste, but in fact Karl has had to pay MPI to send an official to observe his net at work. And, if he wants to progress his invention any further, Karl will need to pay MPI a lot more and may lose ownership of his invention.
This is barmy and unfair when you consider the $26 million of taxpayer’s dollars that have been given to several corporate companies to develop their own different fishing net. Karl’s put in the time and effort, it’s clearly his design at work, so why doesn’t MPI see this as a good thing and something they need to support?
We’re going to put that question to MPI and find out what’s going on but you can find out more about Karl and his net at the links below.
Karl’s not the only one looking at nets, of course, but for Cavalier Bremworth, the question isn’t how to catch fish but what to do with unwanted old nets.
Cavalier Bremworth is the first carpet maker in Australasia to use nylon sourced from old fishing nets to make its carpet. The product has a lower carbon footprint than using new nylon, and is helping save marine life, says the company.
The thread contains around 25% fishnet nylon, collected from fish farms, and volunteers dive for discarded “ghost” nets which can trap and kill marine life.
This is a great way to get rubbish out of our seas and putting it to good use elsewhere.
LegaSea – The future of fishing?
Newshub – NZ company turns fishing nets into carpets
Hawkes Bay activists gaining traction
Karl fishes off the Hawke’s Bay and that’s one area of New Zealand where fish stocks are reaching the point where even local fishers are concerned for their future survival.
So much so that LegaSea Hawke’s Bay has called for a complete ban on commercial trawling in the Bay to ensure stock levels are given a chance to rebuild.
For the past two years, LegaSea Hawke’s Bay has been fighting to have the problem recognised and for MPI and the commercial fishing industry to act on the information before them. It’s a fight that continues, and now at least the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is taking a more active role in managing the resource for the region.
The Recreational Fishing in New Zealand report published in March puts the value of recreational fishing spend in the lower North Island, including the Hawke’s Bay area, at around $110 million per annum on trips and equipment.
That is a good income for a region so reliant on its natural resources.
Gisborne Herald – Call to stop Hawke’s Bay shore trawl
LegaSea – LegaSea Hawkes Bay – a positive move
Report – Recreational Fishing in New Zealand. A Billion Dollar Industry
Kaimoana
It’s that time of year again – Wellington On A Plate kicks off in August and this year’s there’s an increased awareness of the need for sustainably-harvested seafood.
Zibibbo Restaurant and celebrity chef Martin Bosley are holding an educational evening “with insight into the fishing methods of New Zealand’s sustainable seafood industry” on August 14 and 15 that includes not only a talk from Martin but also a five-course meal matched with wines encapsulating beautiful seafood and local ingredients.
I feel hungry just thinking about it.
It’s $150 a ticket but you know they’ll get snapped up like hot cakes so if you’re thinking about going, you might want to jump on the link below ASAP.
And speaking of things to jump on, we caught Clarke Gayford’s new TV show Fish of the Day on Choice TV this week in which Clarke accidentally catches a blue marlin and generally made us green with envy. But it was the Niuean crab – the Uga – which really caught our eye.
Armed with pincers able to carve up a coconut, or chop off a wayward finger, these beauties have been almost hunted to extinction and now cannot be exported. I’m fairly sure we won’t see anyone smuggling these across the border in their undies because they grow to be up to 4kg in size.
Well done Clarke. We trust you’re still intact.
If you’d like to see one of these beasties up close, Choice TV has a competition going for six nights in Niue for two which includes a fishing charter and a night safari to find you an Uga.
Wellington on a Plate – Sustainable Seafood
Choice TV – Fish of the Day competition
