Rock lobster catch slashed by 30pc

The quota for rock lobster catches in the East Coast fishery is to be slashed by 30 per cent to ensure sustainability, Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope announced yesterday.

The cut means the allowable commercial catch has been reduced by nearly 42 per cent in two years.

The affected CRA3 fishery area for rock lobster, which is also known as crayfish, stretches from East Cape to the Wairoa River and includes Mahia Peninsula.

A recent assessment of stock in the fishery showed it had declined since 1999.

"Fisheries scientists confirmed a belief that the stock would further decline if the current total allowable catch continued," Mr Benson-Pope said.

"For that reason I took the decision to reduce the total catch. By acting now we guarantee the long-term success of this important fishery."

A new total allowable catch of 319 tonnes, down from 453 tonnes, has been set from the start of the season on April 1.

Last year commercial fishermen in CRA3 voluntarily reduced their total catch from 327 tonnes to 210.3 tonnes. They had also offered to reduce their catch to about 190 tonnes for 2005-2006 to address the decline.

While Mr Benson-Pope praised their initiative, he said it was his legal obligation to set catch limits at a level to ensure sustainability of the stock.

As well as the catch reductions Mr Benson-Pope asked the National Rock Lobster Management Group to review other aspects of management, such as the different minimum legal size of rock lobster caught by commercial fishers in winter and closed seasons.

Rock lobsters were introduced to the quota management system in 1990, spread over nine management areas for red lobster and one for packhorse lobster, the world's biggest lobster, which grows to 60cm long and a weight of 15kg.

They are the third biggest seafood export earner for New Zealand, netting nearly $100 million from exports in 2004. The fishery employs about 2500 New Zealanders, many living in smaller coastal communities where there are few alternative employment opportunities. In addition to being commercially significant, the species are also important in recreational and customary Maori fisheries.

In 1992, 10 per cent of the total allowable commercial catch for rock lobsters was allocated to Maori.

The value of rock lobsters as a commercial asset has tripled in some regions in recent years, and Statistics New Zealand said the asset value for the Gisborne region last year was about $80 million.

Lobsters can live for over 30 years, but legal size is reached between five and 10 years. For red rock lobsters, this is a tail width of 54mm for males and 60mm for females, with different restrictions in the Otago, Gisborne and southern areas. Packhorse rock lobsters must have a tail length of at least 216mm.

Some Gisborne rock lobsters - caught as juveniles under the city's wharf - have been "farmed" in the Marlborough Sounds.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has worked with Sanford, Waipaua Aquaculture and Kennedy Bay Mussel to develop a system for cage-rearing the lobsters.

Sanford has reared juvenile Gisborne crayfish in cages on a Marlborough Sounds mussel farm to reach a "plate" size - smaller than the legal size - in about two years.

Lobster quota

* A total allowable commercial catch of 190 tonnes.

* An unchanged total customary/recreational catch of 40 tonnes.

* 89 tonnes for rock lobster to be killed by other means, eg, accidentally killed with other catch.

- NZPA