Factory ships chasing mackerel
Distant lights on the horizon at night out at sea off the Taranaki coast have caught the attention of residents.
Deep water fishery consultant Richard Wells said the lights were a cluster of six New Zealand flagged ships, which will spend the next month or two between Farewell Spit and Kaipara Harbour targeting jack mackerel species for export.
The ships were chartered to New Zealand-owned companies, and some manned by foreign crews, with New Zealand fishery observers on board.
‘‘The season has been operational for the past 15 years, and the area is located outside the 24 nautical mile exclusion zone,'' Wells said.
‘‘It's a highly observed fishery and there was a clear indication of what is being caught,'' Wells said.
The bulk of the catch was jack, or horse, mackerel, caught at 100-200 metre depths, Wells said.
Depending on the grade it is exported to a range of countries including Japan, Papua New Guinea or South Africa.
‘‘Mackerel has a pink to red coloured flesh and is very oily so many New Zealanders don't like eating it so its not sought after here.''
The factory ships process the fish on board and return to port at either Nelson or Lyttelton to unload every four to six weeks.
Included in the fleet was the Sealord-owned $70m Tokatu, which can handle 20,000 tonnes of material, and process 150t of fish each day.
The other ships include the Independent, Te Raukura, Mainstream, and Aleksey Slobodchikov.
Once the season is completed the ships will head to the subAntarctic fishing grounds to catch squid.
New Plymouth commercial fisherman Keith Mawson said the fishing fleet can sometimes impact on local operators when setting gear.