In the 1980s boom, orange roughy hauls were sometimes big enough to sink boats. Photo / Curly Walker
For the fishing industry, the 1980s and '90s were a bonanza, and orange roughy was white gold.
First fished in New Zealand in the late 1970s, the deepsea fish, known for its firm flesh and delicate taste, quickly became popular overseas and the export market flourished.
It was a time of seagoing cowboys and hauls that most people can only dream of -- boats sinking under the weight of the roughy they'd hauled aboard, fish hanging off the sides when the decks were full, and the chance to earn millions if the catch was good.
But, in a familiar story for New Zealand's natural resources, the boom and the wealth that came with it were followed by an even greater bust.
By the turn of the millennium, orange roughy was listed as extinct by some fishery reference sites and books, says Roughy on the Rise, a recently published book on the fishery by Seafood NZ chief executive Tim Pankhurst.
Although that wasn't quite the case, roughy stocks were certainly pushed to near extinction levels.
Now, after careful management and the imposition of a quota system, the industry is celebrating the growth of roughy numbers and the fact that three of this country's nine orange roughy fisheries have been awarded Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification as sustainable -- the international gold standard of approval.
While some conservation groups don't accept that status, overseas sales of roughy are rising.
During the early years of roughy fishing, 20 out of every 100 fish were caught, according to experts -- too many to be sustainable.
Before the Quota Management System, brought in under 1986 legislation, catch limits were almost non-existent; the key rule was to catch as much as you could without sinking your boat.
Fishermen from that time recall captains sleeping with one foot on the ground once the boat had hauled in its catch, hoping that a wet foot would wake them if the boat started sinking.
Others describe vessels so laden with fish that just one more person coming aboard would be enough to make the boat list in the water.
"These fishermen were taking insane risks because the fishery was so lucrative," says Pankhurst.
"It was this amazing gold rush and we've seen it in New Zealand in a number of areas, from the cray boom to deer hunting to gold way back. It's a reasonably familiar boom and bust scenario."
At its peak in 1988, the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for orange roughy was set at 63,110 tonnes for the year. Statistics NZ data shows exports also hit a high that year, at $170.2 million -- about $330m in today's money.
Fisheries do recover under careful management backed by sound science. This is a story of loss -- and of redemption.
Ministry for Primary Industries data show that from 1983 to 1986, seafood exports jumped from 130,000 tonnes to 158,000 tonnes, headed mainly for the US, Australia and Japan.
The value of those exports increased from $309m to $657m, with orange roughy accounting for a quarter of that value
But little was known about the biology of orange roughy, which made the slow growing, slow breeding fish vulnerable to overfishing. Roughy can take 25-35 years before they breed, and live to 130 years.
Once orange roughy stocks are overfished, the species is slower to recover than fish with a shorter lifespan which reproduce earlier.
According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, by 1982 both inshore and deepwater fisheries were showing signs of stock depletion.
However, it wasn't until the turn of the millennium that fishing quotas were cut significantly.
During 2012 and 2013, orange roughy exports hit a low of $29m, as two roughy fisheries were left unfished to recover, and the catch limit was cut to just 6931 tonnes amid concerns about overfishing. Today the fishery is worth about $60m a year, although the two smaller stocks remain unfished.
Certification of several orange roughy stocks -- covering the majority of the fishery -- is being lauded by the industry as testament to the work of New Zealand's fishing groups, the Ministry for Primary Industries and the quota system.
"We aim to be recognised as the best managed fisheries in the world and we are delivering on this promise," says George Clement, chief executive of Deepwater Group, a fisheries industry group focused on sustainable management.
New Zealand operates the oldest and largest orange roughy fishery in the world, says the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
For the current year, the TACC is 8700 tonnes, 6000 tonnes of which is from MSC certified fisheries.
According to Clement, having 220,000 tonnes of roughy stocks MSC certified -- about 70 per cent of roughy in New Zealand waters -- makes this country one of the world's top performers for management of the species.
"This is the pivot point in a journey of sustainable seafood, during which industry has directly invested some $35 million into science and technology to develop new ways of measuring and observing orange roughy," Clement says.
"We had to rebuild these stocks -- a process that is now all but completed."
Certification from the MSC -- an international non-profit group -- is based on 32 criteria covering three key principles: are the fish stocks healthy; is the fishery damaging the marine environment; and is there ongoing effective management of that fishery.
To be labelled sustainable, a fishery must pass all criteria by at least 60 points out of 100 and have an aggregated score of more than 80 in each category.
About 400 wild fisheries -- some 11 per cent of the world's catch, or 11 million tonnes -- are now MSC certified, with orange roughy the latest.
In New Zealand, fisheries for hake, ling, hoki, southern blue whiting and albacore tuna are also certified.
In its final assessment of the three roughy stocks that won certification, the MSC said they were "exceptionally well managed and characterised by state of the art stock assessments and harvest strategies".
It was this amazing gold rush and we've seen it in New Zealand in a number of areas, from the cray boom to deer hunting to gold way back. It's a reasonably familiar boom and bust scenario.
However, orange roughy's sustainable title has come with its fair share of contention.
Conservation organisations including WWF, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Greenpeace and Forest and Bird all objected to the certification. A hearing of their arguments was held in London last October, and all objections were eventually dismissed.
Forest and Bird's Katrina Goddard, lead researcher for the Best Fish Guide, says "any certification scheme that calls the orange roughy fishery sustainable has lost all credibility".
"Some stocks are rebuilding, which is great, but some have got worse so it is way too early to be blowing the trumpet," Goddard says.
"There's still a lot of work to be done within the industry, and unfortunately when they take the position of 'it's done, we've got it and we can move on', it is disappointing because we want to keep the conversations going and moving towards being more and more sustainable, which is what the market will demand," she argues.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says orange roughy's turnaround is a remarkable story, and the industry has had to make a lot of changes.
"It was a real gold rush, but as a nation and an industry, we have learnt a lot from mistakes made in those days," he says.
"A huge amount of work has gone into rebuilding this fishery over the years by industry and successive governments. To now have it recognised as sustainable by an independent, international body is worth celebrating."
Patrick Caleo, the MSC's Asia-Pacific director, says lower catch allowances, and research, have boosted fish numbers, and that should be recognised.
"This is an amazing story of improvement," Caleo says. "Consumers can be confident that orange roughy caught by the certified fishery, and sold with the blue MSC label, comes from a well-managed and sustainable source."
Despite the positive attitude, MSC has said more orange roughy fisheries began the certification process but did not proceed, as stock health meant they were unlikely to be approved.
The MSC says being certified gives fisheries the opportunity to supply markets in which environmental credibility plays an increasing role in shoppers' purchasing decisions. It also improves the reputation of the industry and fisheries management.
In 1998, 90 per cent of the country's orange roughy exports were sent to the US. Today, says Pankhurst, China is the main export destination for the fish, with Australia and the US still taking a significant portion.
MPI's latest primary sector outlook report forecasts that seafood export earnings will grow by 4.6 per cent on average each year, to hit $1.9b in the 2018 financial year.
Fisheries management and overfishing are topics where where fishermen and environmental groups are unlikely to see eye to eye. But while certification status for orange roughy has been contentious, both sides do agree that at least some stocks of the fish are on the rise.
In Pankhurst's words, "fisheries do recover under careful management backed by sound science. This is a story of loss -- and of redemption".
Orange roughy -- also known as slimehead or deep sea perch -- is a slow-growing fish species that can live for up to 130 years according to MPI, although some sources report finding fish even older than this.
They are found in deep water around New Zealand, at depths of 700m to 1500m and grow to about 50cm long.
The fish mature late, reaching adulthood and breeding age between 25 and 35 years old, and weighing up to 3.5kg when fully mature.
The species moves to shallower water and gathers to breed once a year. This breeding behaviour allows it to be easily caught in large numbers.
MPI says the Japanese research vessel Shinkai Maru discovered orange roughy while trawling at 800m off the Chatham Rise.
Because it was white fleshed, not pink, the Japanese captain moved on and the fishery was not commercially fished until about 1979.
The majority of roughy caught today is exported to China, the US and Australia.
The species was incorrectly labelled extinct by a number of reference books and sites after being overfished.
At its peak in 1988, the roughy catch was set at 63,110 tonnes for the year. Today, the quota is set at 8726 tonnes, with two of the nine distinct fishery areas not fished at all to allow the species to regenerate.
The fish is red in colour, fading to orange when it dies. It has white flesh, described as being like shellfish in flavour and texture. The species is mainly fished by bottom trawling.
Despite receiving Marine Stewardship Council certification, New Zealand's orange roughy is still labelled unsustainable by Greenpeace, the UK Marine Conservation Society and Forest and Bird's Best Fish Guide.
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