Fishing 'best' yet

Ali Williams' 10kg pal is harder to find. Photo / Geoff Thomas

Recent reports suggesting the Hauraki Gulf and the Kaipara Harbour were polluted and in danger of collapsing seem typical of the push by environmentalists to paint a grim picture and condemn everything from farming to fishing.

The fact is the fishing has never been better. Snapper stocks have been improving for the past 20 years and kahawai and kingfish stocks have also bounced back. This summer has been called "the best in living memory" by some fishermen, including those with grey hair. And the great fishing is continuing as mild weather postpones the bite of winter.

Charter skippers specialising in snapper fishing also confirm a steady improvement in fish numbers in the gulf.

A story claiming the Kaipara was heading for an "ecological crisis" said the harbour was "nursery to nearly the entire national snapper resource". That is a big claim and patently untrue. The snapper stocks on the west and east coasts are regarded as separate fisheries and tagging programmes suggest there is little interaction. It is true the Kaipara is an important nursery but for the west coast snapper fishery. So are the Hokianga, Manukau, Raglan, Kawhia and Aotea harbours.
But because of its size, the Kaipara is the major nursery area. It covers 947sq km and, with 800km of shoreline, is one of the largest in the world.

But if the west coast snapper fishery represents 50 per cent of the country's snapper stocks, which is probably generous, and the Kaipara nurses 90 per cent of those, which is also up there, that is only 45 per cent of the country's snapper.

The west coast is a rich ecosystem and snapper there grow to the legal takeable size of 27cm in four years, whereas it takes five years for their eastern cousins to do so.

But the west coast fishery is not in such a good state as the east coast fishery and recreational fishermen put that down to commercial fishing pressure. Whether the ability of the Kaipara to nurture baby snapper has deteriorated is another question and there is no doubt the doomsayers are correct when they claim sedimentation destroys beds of shellfish, sponges and weed, constituting important habitat for all types of fish.

This applies to the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames also, where silt and nutrients such as nitrogen are contributed by the two main rivers coming from the Hauraki Plains - the Waihou and Piako rivers. But without dairy farms, which many are quick to blame, we would not be earning the overseas funds needed to pay the multitude of beneficiaries and government employees.

Another report warns that the gulf is in dire straits and in danger of collapsing. Well, those fishing for snapper all along the foreshore in the shallows of the firth for the past eight months would not agree. It has never been better. And it is still fishing well. Charter skipper Johnny Elwood, of the Whitianga-based vessel, the Wai, specialises in snapper fishing in the outer gulf and off the Coromandel coast and he says there is no doubt the fishing has been improving during the past 15 years.

The biggest change reported anecdotally among those who love to chase snapper has been the reduction in numbers of big snapper, the nine-kilo-plus models. These "20-pounders" may be 40 years old. Maybe more. The oldest confirmed age is 60 years.

This could probably be attributed to stock depletion in the early 1990s, so a resurgence in their numbers would confirm we are on the right track.

Not all fisheries are in such great shape. Some high-value species such as crayfish and paua can be hard to find, but that applies to anything worth a lot of money. Come down hard on the poachers, for a start. And cut back the commercial harvest when stocks come under pressure. That is what the Government is supposed to do under the Fisheries Act anyway.

The priority for any fishery is, first, customary rights; second, recreational fishing rights; and lastly the commercial industry. Like most areas, it is the politics which create the problems. Watch this space for updates on what is happening in that arena.

Sure, we should never be complacent. More science is needed and programmes like an experiment with artificial seagrass matting to create nursery habitat encouraged. But let's also enjoy our fishing, as it has never been better, and make sure it stays that way for those coming after us.