Skinny, milky white flesh: Are Northland’s Bream Bay snapper starving?

Fears have emerged about Northland’s snapper supply becoming a ticking time bomb after a report indicated the fish may be starving.

Marine environmentalists and keen anglers say authorities’ sluggish response to the finding is compounding the issue.

In August last year, snapper, kahawai, and trevally in the Hauraki Gulf and East Northland were found to have milky, white flesh.

Despite a Biosecurity New Zealand report that found the fish are malnourished, Fisheries NZ doesn’t want to rush to conclusions.

Emma Taylor, Fisheries NZ director fisheries management, said it was important “that we get this right”.

The report suspected the milky-white flesh syndrome was related to chronic malnutrition.

The fish were reported as safe to eat.

Offshore Adventures owner Tony Orton said the findings needed to prompt immediate action before Northland snapper became as impacted as those in the Hauraki Gulf.

“My gut feeling is that the fish are starving, or that they’re not healthy, there’s something desperately wrong.”

Orton said on average, 10 to 20 per cent of his daily Bream Bay catch was skinny, milky fish.

He believed land run-off and pollution from Bream Bay housing developments could be contributing to the issue, as well as destructive overfishing of bait fish, that snapper eat.

“The biggest concern is how slow Fisheries NZ are reacting to this and it’s a prime example of what we’re having throughout the country.

“Now we’ve had a collapse in the scallop fishery and it’s taken years for them to actually do something about it.”

Fishing charter company Offshore Adventures owner Tony Orton holds a snapper. Photo / Supplied.

Orton said it might be too late for the survival of the fish, by the time research is done to determine the exact cause of the syndrome.

“We need to look at the destructive fishing techniques that are going on,” Orton said.

Taylor, on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand, said the syndrome had been seen and reported in previous years but had increased this season.

“We’ve received some reports from fishers in the Northland region, including from the west coast of Northland, however, the syndrome appears to be more prevalent in the Hauraki Gulf.”

She said Niwa research will determine the prevalence of milky-white flesh syndrome by using commercial catch samples off the northeast of the North Island. Data will be used to “support future analysis”.

“We wouldn’t want to draw any assumptions too early - it’s important that we get this right.”

Taylor said it is likely there is a range of potential causes.

“For example, we know that snapper lose condition after they have spawned, and this could contribute to the syndrome.

“We also know that environmental factors play a part such as marine heatwaves, increased rainfall over the region, and extreme weather events,” Taylor said.

LegaSea project lead Sam Woolford was alarmed that the degenerative changes in fish muscles and tissue has been attributed to starvation.

“We all need to be worried about the declining food sources in the marine environment. Snapper are a resilient species, yet even they are now starving,” he said.

“It’s not just the Hauraki Gulf, it’s definitely Bream Bay as well.”

Woolford claimed commercial overfishing of fish low down on the food chain was destroying the ecosystem and leaving fish like snapper starving.

“And yet we are extracting about 9000 tons of blue and jack mackerels every single year in the interest of selling them for about $2.30 a kilo.”

LegaSea is calling on MPI to restrict and remove fishing methods such as bottom trawling, dredging, and net fishing - such as Danish seining - used by recreational and commercial fishers in Bream Bay.

“You can do your research, but don’t wait. Let’s be active,” Woolford said.

Blackdog Cat boats sales manager Graeme Heapy said he had heard reports of the pale fish being caught in Northland and wondered whether it could be related to the cyclone disruptions.

“Its impact has not been as widespread as it appears to have been in the Hauraki Gulf. It gets less prevalent the further north you get.”

Heapy said the issue didn’t appear to be as concerning in Northland.

“The Whangārei Harbour has an abundance of fish at the moment.”