The East Coast rock lobster industry has decided to tighten up on new catch restrictions set by the Government last month over concerns about the health of the species.
The voluntary reductions bring allowable crayfish/rock lobster catch in line with more conservative options put to Fisheries Minister Shane Jones.
The minister announced the Government’s biannual changes to commercial catch limits in mid-March, increasing limits for some areas and species and limiting them for others effective from April 1.
Spiny rock lobster, or crayfish, now have an increased catch limit in southern fishery areas but a reduced limit from the tip of the East Cape down to Wairoa.
Rock lobster is New Zealand’s single most valuable seafood export, worth more than $300 million annually.
The East Cape changes mean the daily crayfish limit for recreational fishers has been halved from six to three, and the annual allowable catch for the industry was lowered by 20 percent from 195 tonnes to 156 tonnes.
The move was in response to uncertainty around the health of crayfish and their habitat following Cyclone Gabrielle, with silt and forestry slash “blighting” the marine environment.
Locals, who take the equivalent of 8 percent of the total harvest, taking a 50 percent hit while the industry takes only a 20 percent hit, rubbed some, including local hapū, the wrong way.
Opponents believed industry should have been required to take a bigger haircut.
The bulk of the rock lobster catch goes towards the Asian live lobster market and only a small percentage of it is sold domestically.
Shelving allocation
The NZ Rock Lobster Industry Council and the Tairawhiti Rock Lobster Industry Association have agreed to shelve some of their catch entitlement so an additional 10 percent reduction in commercial catch is implemented.
This works out to a commercial catch limit of 136.5 tonnes.
This self-imposed limit is roughly the same as some of the more conservative East Cape crayfish options Fisheries put to Shane Jones.
Eight options were put to Jones, who ended up going with Fisheries’ suggested, middle-of-the-road option, with a 20 percent commercial reduction and halving of recreational limits.
Other options put forward by Fisheries included reductions in commercial catch allocation to 136 tonnes and 117 tonnes.
After announcing his choices, Jones told Newsroom, “We’ve taken a precautionary approach so we can better understand the impact of such a deluge on the lobster population and the habitat of the lobster.
“We shouldn’t underestimate how important lobster is, it is New Zealand’s largest singular fisheries export value-wise and the commercial guys took a wee hit as well as the recreationalists,” Jones said.
“I think that if we all just hold our breath, we’ll see what the impact is over the next year or two and subject to the population showing robustness, a bit of sacrifice in the short term may very well lead to long-term gain.”
Industry difficulties
The previous lowest catch in the past 30-odd years was in the fishing year ending March 1996, where 156.9 tonnes of rock lobster was harvested.
Gisborne-based processor and NZ RLIC director Salve Zame said the catch reductions would cost his business and other operators who have had a difficult year, but that the industry was focused on the long term.
“We have been unlucky with the impacts of the cyclone, ongoing adverse weather for fishing, and the closure of the fishery for an extended period because of the algal blooms.
“It’s been a tough year. But we need to think about the next 10 years and how we can keep this fishery sustainable.”
NZ Rock Lobster Industry Council chief executive Mark Edwards said it was a reasonable step until further management action could be considered.
“We will be in a better position to do this when the results of a revised full stock assessment and analysis of other post-cyclone data, including industry logbook data, are available later in 2024.”
LegaSea program lead Sam Woolford said the industry’s decision to shelve quota was a noble move, but it was yet another indicator the quota management system was failing.
“The objective of commercial fishing is to monetize natural resources. They will fish and fish until they hit their quota limit, that is how the Quota Management System is designed to constrain commercial fishing.
“So if the commercial fishers are shelving crayfish, it’s because they have serious concerns about the population. That’s quite a noble action because it means less money in their pocket.
“But it shows that MPI has over-allocated the harvest of crayfish, the commercial guys know it, and that’s why they’re shelving it. The quota limit should be constraining them, The limits are clearly too high.”
Kai moana concern
Paul Ratapu, a spokesperson for local iwi authority Rongomaiwahine, said he was concerned about the community’s ability to feed their families as recreational limits were tightened.
“We’ve had a tough run down here. Covid then a cyclone, now the rising cost of food. Kai moana is a primary source of nutrition for lots of our whānau. As a community we are still trying to get back on our feet,” Ratapu said.
“This decision makes it clear the minister and MPI are prioritising the export market. It’s about time the Government put New Zealanders first.”
Former Wairoa mayor Derek Fox said the limitation would be tough on the area, with the term recreational fisherman not really fitting a lot of East Cape residents.
“They’re not really recreational fishermen where I come from, they are people who are putting food on the table. They are people who have lived by the sea all their lives, and they look to the sea as their food basket.
In Otago we have a special concession known as the Karatane concession where small crays are still allowed to be taken even though few have reached sexual maturity. This permits a niche market of smaller crays but does mean that it is reliant of spawn coming from elsewhere. Might be different if there was a limit on taking the large good breeding crays. And if there was good habitat in a marine reserve.
Interesting graph. Doubling and halving catches does look pretty erratic.