Lift quotas as species recover, say fishermen

Commercial fishing operators are keenly hoping that quotas will be scaled up on the back of New Zealand’s healthy fish stocks.

The Ministry for Primary Industries’ report on fish numbers, which coincided with the midpoint of the fishing season, was due to be published at the end of May.

It provided detailed scientific analysis of where there was scope for additional quotas, as well as where fishing needed to be reeled in. Statistics last year showed only 0.5 per cent of landings of known fish stocks were below the ‘‘hard limit’’ level, where fishery closures should be considered.

The New Zealand Federation of Commercial Fishermen, the fishing owner-operator’s national body, suggested anecdotal evidence backed an increase in quotas for the next season.

President Doug Sanders-Loder said he would not suggest a host of increases in total allowable commercial catch (TACC) levels, but he said there was certainly room to do so for key species.

‘‘We’ve got really good reason to believe that we could increase some TACCs and I think the mood of the industry is to ensure that you maintain a level of conservatism with that.’’

Across the inshore fishing industry there were several species for which the limit on fishing could be raised, he said.

‘‘Interestingly, as you go around the country the dynamics in respect of individual fisheries are so different that those fish will be different depending on the region you’re in.’’

The value of New Zealand’s fishing exports was about $1.2 billion in the nine months to September last year.

Dr Pamela Mace, the Ministry for Primary Industries’ principal adviser for fisheries science, said the fishing industry often chose to implement its own quota, below TACC.

Hoki stocks had shown six years of growth, and 130,000 tonnes were caught last year.

‘‘There wasn’t a hoki [quota] increase last year and that was actually [an] industry decision, but things are looking even better this year.’’