December 21, 2020
It can be quite scary when you realise that we don’t know much about what is happening at sea or the state of our fish stocks. That’s because there’s not enough onboard cameras or observers to monitor at-sea activity. What’s more, 56 percent of targeted fish stocks in the Quota Management System (QMS) have never ... Read more.
December 17, 2020
The decline in scallop numbers on the eastern side of Coromandel Peninsula has prompted Opito Bay locals to join forces and initiate a programme to restore stocks of the delicacy, starting with a survey to establish how many scallops actually remain in the Bay. The survey will be officially launched at a morning ceremony on ... Read more.
December 9, 2020
Fresh scallops are one of life’s pleasures, and if you gather them yourself there is untold satisfaction in sharing that kaimoana with your family and friends. The low numbers of scallops in many traditional gathering areas means people holidaying around the Coromandel Peninsula may miss out on a meal of scallops this summer. Reports from ... Read more.
December 2, 2020
Divers, divers everywhere, not a scallop to be seen. We’ve had some grim reports recently about the lack of scallops in Opito Bay, on the eastern seaboard of the Coromandel Peninsula and on the western side of the Peninsula. Sadly, these are not isolated cases of depletion. They represent further examples of poor management of ... Read more.
November 26, 2020
The response to the coronavirus threat is proof that our government can go hard and fast when they commit to protecting the interests of all New Zealanders. There are plenty of good reasons why the new government must act with the same haste and financial commitment to rebuild our depleted inshore fish stocks. The Quota ... Read more.
October 26, 2020
Calls are getting louder for 30 percent marine protected areas out to 200 nautical miles, including a network of no-take zones. There are major concerns with this set-and-forget strategy. Applying MPA fishing closures to some of our most productive areas will inevitably displace effort, intensifying depletion and biodiversity loss in the other 70% of the ... Read more.
September 25, 2020
“Before there were freezers, the fish were left in the ocean until they were needed.” An insightful comment from Dr Davianna Pomaika’i McGregor, director of the University of Hawaii’s Centre for Oral History. She has a deep interest in the indigenous Hawaiian ethos of only taking what you need. Closer to home Maori often express ... Read more.
September 23, 2020
Recreational groups have come out strongly in support of the need to ban fishing techniques that damage the seabed in coastal marine waters. Increasingly, science shows that damage to the seafloor caused by fishing is having an exponential impact on the overall health of our marine ecosystems. At the Annual General Meeting of the New ... Read more.
September 9, 2020
The process to get monitoring cameras on board commercial fishing vessels is a debacle according to public awareness group LegaSea. The reality, it’s another promise made weeks before an election that won’t be initiated until after the following election cycle. “Cameras on board fishing vessels have been promised by fisheries Ministers since 2014, and last ... Read more.
September 1, 2020
Rescue Fish is aimed at increasing the numbers and size of fish in our coastal waters, and in doing so, restoring biodiversity in the marine ecosystem. It will take a collective effort and behavioural changes by all of us to achieve success. A major change will be learning how to fish in an abundant fishery. ... Read more.
