Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Blue cod bounces back after Covid
A pause on recreational fishing during Covid restrictions appears to have helped Marlborough blue cod populations, a researcher says.
Phil Kennard said he had found a lot more young cod, and more large-sized cod, being caught in the Marlborough Sounds since the lockdowns ended.
Kennard, a lifelong fisherman, had been carrying out surveys at Marlborough boat ramps for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) for more than a decade, and had spent the past six years doing research at Waikawa.
“From my observations, over the last few years since we had Covid, and of course there was no fishing allowed ... when we were in lockdown, I actually think the cod species has benefited from it,” he said.
The previous survey, in the summer of 2021-2022, around the time of after New Zealand’s last lockdowns in the second half of 2021, had shown a drop in the numbers of blue cod being caught in the same area.
“I’ve talked to a number of fishermen about this when we‘ve been doing the surveying, and a lot of them agree that there are more cod around, especially young ones.”
The surveys aimed to gather information about fishing practices around New Zealand, and the catch of an estimated 600,000 recreational fishers every year.
The surveys recorded how many and what kind of fish were caught, where they were caught, the bait used and how long the fishers had been out.
Niwa would then use the data to help set quotas and protect and manage coastal fisheries.
Kennard said the surveys were done on a voluntary basis, and most fishers were happy to share their information for the
research. “People are pretty good at doing them, most fishermen know the reason why Niwa do the surveys, and it’s to help the fisheries,” he said. “The result is the different quotas on fish to try to preserve them, so I think people understand that.”
Kennard said the most popular species being landed at Waikawa this summer were blue cod, gurnard, groper (hapuku), and kahawai. There were also a lot of crayfish and blue moki, but “not as many kingfish as we’d like to catch”, he said.
Kennard said he had recorded a few species he’d never come across before and had no idea what they were.
“This last season there have been one or two fish that have come in which we still haven’t identified,” he said.
“I’ve got a list of all sorts of species with pictures of them all, but there are some that the fishermen and myself can’t identify and we just don’t know what they are.”
Kennard said he believed most fish populations in Marlborough’s coastal waters were in a healthy state, but said this view wasn’t shared by everyone.
“When I talk to a lot of the older fishermen, who’ve been out there for years, they say fishing is not like it used to be,” he said.
“They say there’s not as much fish as there used to be, but things change, there’s more boats and more people, so I guess naturally it’s going to change.
“But it seems to me, from my observations, that people who go out to catch some fish do actually catch something which is really good.”
Kennard said his role was solely for research and he didn’t “do any regulation work at all”, but said the vast majority of fishers he came across were toeing the line.
“I don’t really see any evidence of people flouting the rules because it’s just not worth it,” he said.