Greymouth, West Coast attract big game fishermen on the hunt for bluefin tuna

A private fishing vessel heads over the Grey River bar. Over the past week, plenty of boat trailers have been parked at the Cobden boat ramp while keen fishers have headed into the Tasman Sea chasing southern bluefin tuna. Photo / Greymouth Star

The West Coast town of Greymouth is pumping as people come to town to chase bluefin tuna.

The Tasman Sea is regarded as one of the best New Zealand fishing grounds for the large and fast fish, which can grow to a maximum length of 2.5m and weigh over 400kg.

It is found in southern oceans during the autumn and winter, as the tuna follow the visiting commercial hoki vessels, drawn to the surface chasing the feed while the trawl nets are pulled onboard.

Describing conditions on Friday as “squally”, Paringa salmon farmer Ben Monk was out on the open sea again after a successful sortie the weekend before with friends, which he described as “awesome.

“We only went out last week and it was awesome, there were about 30 boats out there,” he said.

“[Friday] we are east of the Hokitika trench, about 25 miles offshore so we plan to fish the trench and then steam home later.”

Robert Wilson (left) and Tony McCarthy with a prize southern Bluefin. Photo / Supplied

Monk said the season had been great and he had not heard of any fish under 100kg.

“They’ve been really big this season, they’re all around 100 to 120 kilo.”

As for his catch, he said: “I just fillet it up, vacuum pack it and give it away to members of the community, it’s one of the best fish in the ocean: ‘happy days’.”

He said the local economy would be noticing the influx of game fishers.

“Greymouth is pumping because of it. We stayed at the Top 10 and it was just full of boats,” Monk said.

“Each night at restaurants there are heaps of the guys out. There are boats from Nelson, Invercargill, guys have flown down from up north to have a go, it’s a very well-known fishery and going forward it will be great for the Coast as well.

“Out here we have seen heaps of whales and heaps of dolphins, the fishery is alive, it’s great to see a lot of the species here, it’s so healthy and it’s great for the region — long may it last!”

- Greymouth Star