| Troubled
Waters for Kahawai
By Lew Ritchie
Circa 1987
Lew Ritchie is a
fisheries scientist who worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries in Northland from 1971 to 1985. He has now established
his own marine biological consultancy. During his time with MAF,
Lew worked on many aspects of fisheries, and inshore seas and coastal
management problems. He was founding chairman of New Zealand’s
first marine reserve management committee, and was MAF’s advisor
on marine reserves nationally. He has spoken at many conferences,
written numerous reports and papers, and knows Northland and its
marine life probably better than anyone else. He is a keen diver
and underwater photographer, and his opinions and comments on the
plight of the kahawai are expressed here with authority.
Right now we may be witnessing the end of kahawai as we know it.
The commercial catch of kahawai has risen from an insignificant
level 10 or even five years ago to currently (1985, the most recent
year for which full catch statistics are available) second in landed
weight among coastal and sixth in finfish overall in the New Zealand
200 mile exclusive economic zone.
This is nothing short of a tragedy. It is a classic case of the
last available and easily exploited coastal fish being plundered
just “because it is there” by the greedy, the thoughtless
and the over-capitalised.
Most regrettably, this exploitation is being aided and abetted by
the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and its optimistic stock
assessment, which can be seen as both an encouragement to the exploiters
and as a licence to exploit.
It is a sad reflection on New Zealand, its policy makers, and its
industry chiefs that virtually every available natural resource
is plundered, whether valuable or not, and irrespective of its place
in our heritage, tradition, culture and recreation.
Although the valuable role played by the kahawai is appreciated
by many Northlanders, it is well worth stating for those who do
not know.
Firstly, kahawai are a very important part of the inshore fish,
seabird and plankton feeding relationship which is the natural expression
of a normal, healthy, inshore marine ecosystem. It is also a spectacular
sight to sealovers, fishermen, visitors and tourists close in shore
around much of the coast.
Secondly, it is an excellent eating fish and can be prepared in
many ways. Its importance as a food fish has increased greatly as
other more traditionally sought-after species have become overfished
and more difficult for recreational fishermen to catch.
It is a fish almost any New Zealander can catch easily and cheaply
compared with most other fish.
It is fun to catch and a fine fighting fish – if you derive
pleasure from fighting with a fish, which many people do.
It supports a major and growing sport fishery itself. It is a traditional
boat species for the larger gamefish sport fishery and therefore
has a high value in both the recreation and tourist industries.
Relatively little is known about the fish biologically, for instance
about its reproduction, recruitment of young fish into adult stocks,
and natural mortality. It is known that like other inshore resources
such as rock lobster, snapper and trevalli it is long-lived and
slow growing. Tagging studies show substantial stock movement around
the cost of the North Island and to half of the South Island.
Long distances are covered, for instance fish tagged in Tasman Bay
have turned up on the Northland west coast harbours, and even as
far as the Hauraki Gulf and Tauranga, and at Kaikoura and down the
South Island west coast. Many fish have also been recovered near
where they were tagged. It appears that the upper half of the North
Island, and perhaps most importantly Northland’s west coast
harbours, are the main spawning and nursery areas.
Stock assessments have varies from 50 to 100,000 tonnes and recorded
commercial catches have hovered between 4000 and 5000 tonnes between
1983 and 1986, the actual commercial catch is likely to be considerably
higher because of dumping and because kahawai, despite efforts by
local MAF staff, do not come under the catch quota system, which
means open slather on the species. Unknowns include actual stock
size and distribution and safe exploitation levels.
What is quite clear is that fishing effort is still increasing dramatically.
Boats previously fishing for more profitable species have had to
turn to kahawai to maintain catch quantities and at least two additional
large vessels – purse seiners – have entered the fishery
this year. Main fishery areas are the Bay of Plenty and Nelson.
In the Bay of Plenty, snapper and trevalli commercial catches are
in the appalling and shameful state of ever-diminishing returns
of barely legal-sized fish. Fishing companies have no option but
to fish for kahawai if they are to remain in operation. Notably,
the MAF fisheries science establishment at Tauranga has shut up
shop.
Whichever way the kahawai is looked at, it is a great New Zealander,
like tui and fantail, cabbage tree and flax, cockle and pipi, and
like them as deserving of the greatest care and respect of the New
Zealand environment and heritage.
Like pipi and cockle, kahawai is too important traditionally, mainly
because of its ready availability to all and its ease of capture,
to be commercially exploited in bulk, and it is unarguably far too
important to be turned into fish meal.
Unfortunately fisheries managers and policy makers all too frequently
make optimistic decisions, often based on insufficient or incomplete
knowledge about the quantity of fish which can be removed “without
harming the stock”.
There is nothing new in this. History shows repeatedly that fisheries
administrators normally overestimate the amount that can be safely
taken from a stock. Of course, the ancient and dishonourable human
characteristic of greed has a lot to do with it too.
The moment that natural stock characteristics such as the representation
of all age and size groups in their natural (i.e. unexploited) proportions
are severely disrupted, the stock is in jeopardy. Severe stock disruptions
have occurred in most of our inshore commercial species and many
well be happening right now in deep-water species in the EEZ fisheries.
In most species too much has been taken overall and too many from
the larger sized groups of fish. In the traditional fisheries sense
large old fish are unimportant and undesirable – they gobble
up food which would otherwise be available for the growth of a greater
number of smaller individuals which fetch a higher price.
How arrogant and short-sighted such an approach is. It is analogous
to the view that human beings over, say 60 (or why not 20?), consume
too much, are not important for the survival of the human race and
can be eliminated.
The consequence of present and projected kahawai plunder: of scattered,
tatty stock remnants, of greatly decreased chance of recreational
fishing success, would be incredibly sad and regrettable for New
Zealand, and just plain stupid – all the more so because it
is unnecessary and avoidable.
In a nutshell, much smaller resource exploitation is possible with
much higher unit return through use of kahawai for recreation and
tourism only.
Several years ago (1983) the writer and Peter Saul of MAF Whangarei
introduced the idea of “recreational fish status” for
kahawai at the Northland Fisheries Liaison Committee meeting. By
and large, the idea was acceptable to all interested groups, including
commercial fishermen represented on the committee. Sadly, the idea
never made it through the system.
The kahawai is worth fighting for. If there is the remotest chance
of decline in kahawai stocks as they are now known, we must demand
action ensure that it doesn’t happen. It is not a case of
stopping all fishing for kahawai, it is a case of saving the last
resource of its type which has a chance of retaining any semblance
of its primeval splendour while still providing for the limited
low impact uses by people for recreation.
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