July 2019 The Fishing Paper & Hunting News Issue 166

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July 2019 Issue 166

NEWS

Snapper release? pg4

 Barotrauma

 Fish Mainland

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2

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Aimex builds absolute beast Christchurch based aquaculture company Aroma Aquaculture invested heavily in innovation recently, in a vanguard move that set new standards in an industry that has been ‘treading water’ for the past couple of years. With the company expanding, General Manager Merv Whipp said they needed a bigger vessel with greater capability that could deliver better efficiencies, and move ahead of the times.

With no larger secondhand boats available and technology at a standstill, the decision to build was the obvious choice.

Merv already knew what he wanted; years in the aquaculture industry had helped develop the mental blueprint of the perfect mussel harvester but transition from concept to ‘concrete’ is never easy.

“The natural choice was to go with Aimex in Nelson,” says Merv, “because they have a build history, are familiar with harvesters, and—most importantly—employ the key people who can manage a project of this scale.”

He said that Aimex works within the industry so can bring expertise and insight to the table.

“You can get a boat built in Auckland but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be practical in every sense.”

Plus, the family-owned company liked the idea of keeping business local.

The design was entrusted to veteran marine architect Richard McBride of Aimex subsidiary Oceantech NZ, who literally sat down at the drawing board with Merv and ‘drew his ideas on paper’. The plans, when finalised, were converted to a ‘cut-file’ where

Daryl Crimp

every component is assigned a number and a computer determines the most efficient way to cut them from sheets of aluminium.

Once cut by a metalwork company in the North Island, the boat resembled a giant jig-saw puzzle and was shipped to Aimex in Nelson for construction.

The build team had depth of experience: managed by renowned boat builder Rex Barnett and including Ross Harvey, it consisted of key industry people passing on their knowledge to a new generation. The result is a cutting-edge 29.5m harvester that ‘ticks all the boxes’ and has been described ‘an absolute beast’.

Aptly christened Kakara, which means Aroma in Te Reo, the vessel’s keystone feature that raises the benchmark in design is the ‘driven hauling chute’ that supports the lifting mussels while they are still underwater. Traditional haulers lift mussel lines clear of the water before engaging the chute, which results in ‘slumping’ or mussels dropping off, whereas this innovative design reduces wastage to almost nil.

Everything on the deck is stainless, including the gantries. All built and supplied by local firm Ansco Engineering.

“Where you have traditional hot dip galv’ or steel,” says Merv, “they rust from the inside out, and usually a metre above the deck, so the maintenance is a killer.”

And the stats are impressive: powered by two 550hp Scania DS13 main engines the harvester is ‘very slippery’ in the water, capable of a ‘full noise’ speed of 17.5 knots and a cruise of 14. Production has been lifted from five tonne per hour to 16, and carrying capacity increased from 24 tonne (24 bags) on the old Bright Star, to 85 bags when full of fuel—15,000 litres. When light

The Kakara raising the benchmark in design and build

on fuel Karaka is surveyed to carry 100 tonne of mussels. The fuel capacity and ocean capability of Kakara also means that it can ferry between Aroma Aquaculture’s Marlborough Sounds farms and its Banks Peninsula operations.

The upshot of the Aimex build is greater efficiency through increased production, faster turn around, reduced fuel burn, and time savings, yet there is also an intrinsic value to having Kakara flagship to the fleet of seven company boats:

“The crew love it,” says Merv. “It certainly makes going to work a pleasure and everyone in the company is very proud of it.”

Aimex General Manager Simon Lavery said the project took 12 months and is another example of the Nelson company’s rapid growth, from an automotive shop a decade ago to having a strong reputation in marine engineering, working on commercial craft from harvesters to steel trawlers.

Lavery says it was an absolute pleasure working with a client who wanted to explore new and innovative ideas. This was a really collaborative approach to a project, that was delivered on time, in spec, and on budget to a fantastic client. Another very proud moment for the company.

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Issue 166 3

Change it up and smash it One of the most frustrating things in fishing is knowing there’s fish under the boat but they just won't bite. It’s always tempting to move spots straight away and blame the good old fish aren’t biting excuse, but I strongly suggest trying a couple of different lures, baits, or techniques before moving on.

On days like these there is no point just trying the same things over and over. You’re much better off trying to change it up by swapping lures

The lures were being smashed before they hit the bottom

or baits or having one of both out.

More often than not, a change in tackle can result in a much higher success rate and even trigger the fish below you into feeding mode.

Doug Clifton

Doug with a snapper that had a taste for metal

This transfers through all aspects of fishing, from chasing trout to kingies.

Fishing with lures is a great way to change it up, with so many different options available on the market.

Although some of these lures seem to be on the shelf to catch the angler, there are some companies with awesome new lures that have been providing results when the fishing has been tough.

One of these companies Is Daiwa, whose new ranges of Kohga sliders are what we took on our latest trip and they didn’t disappoint. The majority of the time the lures weren’t reaching the bottom before being picked up. They come in a wide variety of colours and weights—the pink, lumo, and orange proving especially effective on a variety of species such as snapper, trevally, and tarakihi. They easily out fished bait on the day.

If you’ve tried everything and the fish still aren’t taking, don’t give up on the spot entirely. Try coming back when the current has changed or increased as, often, this is all it takes to turn the fishing on. And don’t forget to change it up!

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4

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Behemoth battles barotrauma Autumn’s a favourite time for chasing snapper. Tim Chapman, Richy Craig, and I arrived upon the alluring waters of Kenepuru Sound and weighed anchor. As the late sun dappled tints of gold, our minds surrendered to the abounding peacefulness. We cast fresh kahawai-baited hooks toward the mussel raft allowing our passion for fishing to meld with nature’s charm. Positive about our prospects, we chatted patiently, discussing the intricacies of cucurbits when suddenly ‘Lucky’ nodded to the south then bucked in the holder. Grasping the rod I felt what keen snapper fishers yearn for— strong nods recoiled through Lucky’s solid glass backbone. “Snapper boys!”

Phil Walsh

Phil struggled with the beast of Keneperu

It had been an embarrassingly long time since Richy, a snapper veteran, or I had connected with a big snapper and, judging by the curve in Lucky’s spine, this was no pannie.

Eager eyes, searched for colour, focusing on the mainline as the fish gradually ascended. The outline of an implausibly monstrous snapper materialised. With jaws agape, we took in the magnificent sight.

“My God!, Flamin’ Nora!, Bloody Hell! ” and other exclamations issued forth. Truly, it was the largest snapper any of us had ever seen.

Curiously, the fish was swimming upside down. Gripping each side of the net’s bow, I hauled the behemoth aboard. The snapper’s stomach cavity was bloated, a clear symptom of barotrauma (BT).

This surprised us as we were only fishing in 16m of water.

Richy and I endeavour to release all snapper over 15lbs.

Appreciation of their age, cunning, good genetics, and the huge contribution large snapper make to recruitment of the species drives our philosophy. Working fast I held the fish upright in the briny, allowing it to regain strength.

Releasing fish caught from this depth has never been a problem but when let go, this fish-of-alifetime floundered helplessly on its side. At my request, Tim vented the fish by piercing it behind the pectoral fin. Air was massaged from its swim bladder and eventually it descended to a safer place. Whether it survived, I’ll never know.

We could only grant it a chance—it stood none in the chilly bin.

After further thought, research and a lengthy discussion with Crimpy I am however left questioning the virtue of releasing BT snapper.

Current scientific data on the long-term survival rates of linecaught, BT Chrysophrys auratus affected by barotrauma, is either difficult to locate or sadly absent.

The welfare and reproductive viability of peri-spawning (BT) snapper has, however been subject to scrutiny. At least one NSW/ New Zealand collaborative study into the effects of barotrauma on

FACTORY

DIRECT

peri-spawning snapper, suggests that bruising to gonads, liver, gastric herniation, ruptured swim bladder and prolapsed cloaca are significant and common symptoms*.

Fishers like myself—however well intended—may in fact be doing the fish, the fishery and ourselves a tragic disservice by releasing BT snapper. From decades of fishing snapper from relatively shallow water (<15m), I’ve observed little, if any sign of barotrauma. Those caught in deeper water however, are evidently at risk of internal injury. Releasing BT snapper also enables the fisher to catch and release more fish than the limit permits. Though, if reproductive functioning and long term survival is jeopardised, then logically, releasing BT fish negatively impacts the snapper fishery, is humanely questionable and wasteful.

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My research into venting snapper suggests it can be a dicey operation. Infection-initiated mortality is a very real risk.

Moral of the story? In the absence of abundant empirical evidence I’ve resolved to keep releasing large snapper but… to play it safe, only the shallow-caught, non-BTsymptomatic snapper will go back.

From here on in, any BT snapper will form part of the catch and be slipped into the chilly-bin. Reckon

I deserve them too. Snapper can be really hard work. I’ll be reducing hooks on snapper traces too, to one only. Double-hook traces can snag fish forever. My old scales bottomed out at 25lb. We figured the big snapper weighed at least 30 but we’ll never know for sure.

There really are some giant snapper out there. Best of luck.

For more information: contact@philwalsh.net

*PeregrinLS,ButcherPA,BroadhurstMK, MillarRB(2015)Angling-InducedBarotraumain SnapperChrysophrysauratus:AreThere ConsequencesforReproduction?PLoSONE10(3): e0119158.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0119158 URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4363314/ Accessed 20 May 2019

FRONT COVER: Tim Chapman landed this 23lbr while Phil was releasing the monster.

Issue 166 5

The best holiday fishing trip

A fat trevally for Fritz

Dominik Berghamer

“That’s insane! Nobody needs that much drag, something will break!” My Dad was quite sceptical about the capabilities of the brand new Shimano Twinpower, and the 80lb braid. He should have known better, after all it was him who brought them along for my parents' first visit to New Zealand.

Club president Michael had generously offered to take us

on a trip to d’Urville Island on his boat, so the old man and I set up the fishing gear while Mum prepared some lunch. After a 5 o’clock start the next morning, we arrived at our first fishing spot at sunrise. I baited the hooks on Mum’s Bottomship with some squid and down it went. My own gear was only half way down when her rod doubled over! Dad just shrugged his shoulders and kept fishing, he is used to

A beautiful kingi about to be released by Fritz

being outfished by his better half. A good sized snapper came aboard and while I unhooked the fish I handed my rod to Mum. Only 5 seconds later she hooked the next one! After her fourth fish in a row she decided to give it a break to spare her sore shoulder, and the rest of us were finally able to hook a few fish as well – not as big, of course!

Then it was Dad’s turn but the heavy fish he had hooked fought suspiciously stubbornly and after 10 minutes a 20lb conger eel broke the surface. His next drop was stopped half way

Have your say...

Fisheries New Zealand is seeking feedback on proposals to change catch limits for 20 fish stocks.

In addition, there is a proposal to add another four fish species to the list that must be reported to Fisheries New Zealand by amateur fishing charter vessels.

You can submit your feedback on the proposals by online survey, email and post no later than 5pm, 26 July 2019. New catch limits will come into effect from 1 October 2019.

Visit www.fisheries.govt.nz/sustainabilitymeasures-oct-2019 for more information and full consultation documents.

down by a fat trevally that made the Penn sing for a couple of minutes. With a big grin on Dad’s face we headed towards a kingfish spot and started jigging. Dad found the technique quite awkward at first but he is a quick learner! The first kingi was still mine, a nice keeper of about 15lbs. Then Lukas, Michael’s son, reeled in an even better fish after which a school of couta moved in to spoil the fun. We still decided to do one more drift and Dad’s lure was hit on the second drop. The surprised look on his face made it immediately clear he had not

hooked another barracouta.

The railing saved him from going overboard and the despite the “insane” 15kg of drag the reel screamed like a siren. Welcome to NZ! Frantically, my father tried to stop the fish running and lift its head. If it reached the bottom it would be lost for sure! After a short stalemate the fish seemed to grow a bit weaker and left the danger zone but it was far from giving up yet. An intense fight ensued but my father demonstrated his almost 60 years of angling experience and 10 minutes later a beautiful kingi, well over a

metre long, came on deck.

A quick picture and back it went. Well done, Dad! While we had a celebratory brew we headed to our next spot where an enormous blue whale made an appearance right next to the boat. You don’t get to see that every day! After that we decided to call it a day and headed home along the eastern side of the island and through French Pass, truly a magnificent sight! Needless to say that my parents were stoked, it was certainly the best holiday fishing trip they have ever been on!

6

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Pāua to the people?

A perfect world

Storm Stanley - Chairman, Pāua Industry Council A critical battle between sustainable fisheries and marine preservation is playing out in the waters off Otago. Unless defensive action is taken now, the pāua fishery will become an innocent casualty of this battle.

In May 2019 the Ministers of Conservation and Fisheries announced a proposed network of 12 marine protected areas (MPAs) in the south-east of the South Island. Six of the proposed sites will be marine reserves in which all pāua harvesting will be prohibited.

Two of the proposed marine reserves – at Harakeke Point to White Island, and Akatore – support significant local recreational pāua fisheries, and two others are also used by recreational divers.

Back in December 2016, more than 2,800 submissions were made on the original MPA network proposal. The submissions from recreational fishers tell an interesting story about just how highly valued the local pāua fisheries are, and what needs to be done to ensure they can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. The overwhelming message from submitters who mention pāua in their submissions, is that marine reserves are the last thing that the Otago pāua fishery (PAU5D) needs.

Instead, a significant number of recreational fishing submitters favour fisheries management solutions rather than no-take marine reserves. These submitters support reductions in daily bag limits to 2, 3 or 5 pāua. For example, one submitter asks: “… would it not be better to reduce the number of fish that can be taken per person – for example …5 paua rather than 10 at 130cm rather than 125cm which is the current legal size.”

Recreational fishing submitters are also very alert to the effect on nearby pāua

fisheries of catch displaced from marine reserves. Some are concerned that if commercial pāua divers are displaced from a marine reserve, they will shift into favoured recreational fishing spots – for example: “…if these grounds are closed to these [commercial] fishermen they will have no choice but to move their industry to other grounds that will in turn put pressure into other areas. Then I think this process will occur again. So closing areas for all is not the correct thing to do.”

A submitter commenting on the Akatore marine reserve site notes that: “This area is an area where the public can gain access by foot and without the use of a boat to gather pāua… closing all the coastal pāua areas will only put immense pressure on the only remaining area not affected by the proposed changes (Taieri Island).”

The commercial pāua industry is also extremely worried about the effects of displaced catch on the sustainability of the PAU5D fishstock. The proposed marine reserves will displace a small but important amount of commercial pāua catch, but the industry is far more concerned about the effect of widespread displacement of recreational pāua harvesting.

As the recreational fishing submitters note, catch displacement will increase the risk of localised pāua depletion and exacerbate spatial conflict between fishing sectors.

The PAU5D fishery is rebuilding towards its management target, but the rate of rebuild

is very slow. Every tonne of fish displaced from a marine reserve – whether commercial catch or recreational catch – is equivalent to increasing the PAU5D Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and/or Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) by one tonne. No competent fisheries manager would contemplate increasing catch levels in a fishery that is rebuilding only slowly towards the management target.

Fishers should also be concerned about the threat of a cascading series of future spatial exclusions as customary fishers (understandably) seek to mitigate the threat of displaced catch from marine reserves by establishing more mātaitai reserves to protect their own fishing areas.

So what can be done? Recreational,

commercial and customary fishers need to work together to help ensure that marine protection is not imposed at the expense of sustainable fisheries management. We should be sharing our information and advice during the consultation that the Department of Conservation will shortly initiate under the Marine Reserves Act. We should insist that Fisheries New Zealand (FNZ) actively considers the fisheries management implications of the proposed marine reserves.

This must entail accurate assessments of recreational harvest levels at the proposed sites, and may also require proactive reductions in the PAU5D TAC, TACC and daily bag limits for pāua. If FNZ ignores displaced catch and does nothing, then the pāua fishery and all those who value it will become victims of the invading legion of marine reserves.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR RADIO CHANNELS

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Channel 01 – Mt. Stokes.

Coverage from Cape Farewell in the south to Cape Egmont in the north, and the east from Cape Palliser to Cape Campbell.

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Channel 04 – Drumduan.

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Channel 60 – Mt. Burnett.

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Channel 63 – Mt. Kahikatea.

Covers Queen Charlotte Sound, Port Underwood, Cook Strait, south to Cape Campbell, Kapiti and Mana and also parts of Kenepuru and Pelorus Sounds. This Channel is good for Wellington approaches but not good within Wellington Harbour. (Mariners are advised to cancel Trip Reports at Barrets Reef buoy).

Channel 65 – Paradise Reserve.

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Channel 66 – Mt. Stokes.

Coverage area is similar to Channel 01.

This repeater is for Commercial users only and is not Operator monitored.

Channels 01 and 63 are linked for the marine forecasts only and one operator monitors both channels.

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Issue 166 7

Good Ole Boys I recently had the pleasure of hosting a couple of good ‘ole boys’ from the USA for a days fishing on Top Catch Charters.

bottom fishing. This went well and we soon had a few table fish on board before deciding a change of spot was needed.

Claude and John Paul were in New Zealand for a 10-day hunting safari targeting tahr, chamois, arapawa ram, red stag and fallow buck. They were sure cramming a lot into 10 days so chose to get a fishing trip in Kaikoura before the real work began.

Heading further out I noticed some birds working and as there had been a few slender tuna about, I decided to deploy a couple of lures.

Trolling around the outskirts of the work up did the trick and soon both their rods were bent over. Claude and John Paul then went to work, while giving each other a bit of stick about who was going to land the biggest one.

Both fish they hooked were healthy 8kg specimens and the smiles told me just how much the guys had enjoyed the battle. Out went the lures

I met them at the wharf at 8.00am and straight away I took a liking to these two really friendly fun guys, who were very enthusiastic about their adventure in our great country. First, we went through a safety briefing then headed south to do a bit of

Americans Claud and John Paul landed seven of these slender tuna

PISTOL SHOOTING Macolm Halstead three more times and after great fun we had seven tuna on board.

A bit more bottom fishing followed and the usual suspects gave us a good feed to take home. We finished the trip by getting a cray out of my craypot on the way home and with some directions to a local restaurant the boys were well satisfied, even giving me a substantial tip, which is something I still can’t get used to!

I sure hope these good ‘ole boys’ had a successful hunt and enjoyed the rest of their time in New Zealand, I know I sure as hell enjoyed their company.

Brian Bishop

Confiscation attack on freedom The government and police have released their ‘fair deal’ for the confiscation of our firearms. When considered closely, I wonder how many will get the 95% pay out? I’m willing to bet very few and they will need to fight for it. So 70% of what they value the firearm at, or 25% if they can get away with it.

This treatment of licence holders by the officials under the guise of making New Zealand safe is a nonsense— we all know is false. Hell, the gangs have even been on TV saying they wouldn’t be handing theirs in, as they need firearms as protection from rival gangs. So, it’s only honest licence holders handing their guns, which leaves New Zealand still vulnerable, but now it’s only the criminals and police that possess the banned firearms!

Mainstream media is finally understanding that a total ban is not going to work, which shows how smart they are, because most of us said that, the instant the PM announced the ban. Changing New Zealand forever, the haste of introducing the ban has shown contempt for due process for all law-abiding citizens, because this is more than just a firearms issue.

In the right hands, MSSA rifles have a place

The investigation into the Christchurch shootings has only just commenced and already they are saying they won’t release all of their findings. How was he able to get a firearms licence?

Because we know who gave it to him. What was missed that we are paying the price for?

Many argue we don’t need AR15s and the like: I legally shoot 3gun competitions and represent New Zealand internationally, and choose the best tool for the job— an AR15. But needs and wants are different things.

Builders now use nail guns, why? Because it beats a hammer and nail. How many people drive large powerful vehicles? The speed limit is still 100 and a 1500cc Corolla can do that.

It is a matter of freedom of choice because, in a free country, this should give us the opportunity to own what we like as long it is managed properly and used legally.

The E-cat licence system was working well to ensure

this was the case. As an E-cat endorsed licensed holder, my partner and I undergo extra vetting and have to have added security in order to retain this endorsement. By keeping this category with the addition of a few changes to the act, all would have been fixed without exposing the country to the hundreds of millions this mess is going to cost.

With another round still to come, all firearm ownership is still at risk, as it is the goal of some to take all firearms out of public hands. The fact that gun crime by licenced shooters is so low, doesn’t mean a thing to these people.

So what can you do to ensure that our sport is kept going? Join a club and shoot in a controlled and safe environment. Talk to as many people as you can and educate those who don’t understand about shooting and the fun to be had.

Take action now.

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8

THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Losing it The new dog combination works well, too well. The team that was two is now three and this is hunt number one of the new era.

Just now, all three of them are nose to tail, like a streak of white lightning they’ve blitzed up the basin and out of sight. They’re running on ‘Eveready batteries,’ ‘cos they keep going and going and going.

Once the first catchment has been blitzed the team settles, the bitches opting to do the leg-work, while the dog hangs back and minds his mistress. I’ve had knee surgery recently and he reckons I need support and encouragement. I’d prefer a new leg, or maybe a sleek and slimline new body, one without the saggy bits and gray trim. Instead I have a gammy knee and a hairy cheerleader.

Way up in the second catchment the bitches score a point for ‘Girl Power.’ Pearl and a pig arm wrestled, while Jenna Talia called for reinforcements. Chop left me without a backwards glance, two damsels in distress are better than one by his reckoning.

I limped their way till eventually we’re all grunting and puffing in unison. Their pig is a big black sow. She’s

Kim Swan

savage and determined and uses gravity to her advantage. She’s short in the wheel-base and geared in low range 4x4. One step at a time she dragged the hapless holders through blackberry thickets, face first they are hauled through thorns till their eyebrows bleed and their soft noses and ears are sliced and diced.

Teamwork prevailed, despite the saggy one with the handicap letting the side down. Then, in the dew-strewn grass and blackberry, we lolled about and caught our breaths, feeling the sting and the ache as our adrenaline ebbed.

It was worth the effort, no doubt about it. For the sow is a fine prize, large and fat, unmarked aside from stretched ears and a scratched snout.

bitches - sprinters on the find - then that bolt from the blue, which is a memory bubbling up from deep within. Eighteen months ago, two kilometres away, I’d found this same pig. I’d killed her then too. Or so I thought.

I was stalking.

Confident ‘cos recently the .223 had been shooting fine and so had I.

At home Poss, my live-in master butcher, strip skins the sow and reveals her in all her glory. She is perfect pork, padded with white dimpled fat. He drew my attention to her side and shoulder.

There’s a long deep gouge there, scar tissue pink amid the fat. She has been shot in the past, a severe wound now completely healed.

The wind was dicky but that and the heavy cover made for a satisfying hunt on a summer evening. A crackle far yonder alerted me to the presence of game.

Ears pricked and eyes peeled I watched and waited, intent on a kill.

Lightning striked twice today then. Once the white lightning of two white

Across the creek, on a

southerly face of small pines and burnt matagouri, slowly but surely emerged pig after pig. There were half a dozen or so, sometimes none visible, sometimes two or three. The range was about 200 metres. They moved constantly, snouts down, grunting reassuringly to one another. A family group unaware of danger.

One pig in particular caught my eye. She was a large fat sow, she had no piglets at foot, nor any imminently pending. By golly she looked good, delicious even. I could almost smell her shiny black buttock roasting along with apple and sage stuffing.

She became my target, eventually presenting a shot.

Angling towards me as she fed through a swamp, I put cross hairs on her shoulder and gently squeezed the trigger.

The .223’s tiny projectile connected and told my ear a solid hit had occurred. My eye seconded my success as I saw the sow somersault then slide down the hill and into a thicket. Gotcha!

me. I could not remember where on the face I’d shot the sow. I looked, trust me I looked. I spent an hour back and forward from my shooting position to where I thought she was. She was not anywhere.

Then stuff happened, as it does. I was sidetracked by a piebald porker. As pigs scuttled and scampered he captured my focus as he followed a game trail obvious to the eye.

Predicting his route I twatted him in the head as he crossed through a clear gap.

Two down, 200 metres from the track, too easy.

The beautiful big fat sow was dead. I’d heard the hit.

I’d seen her dying. Eventually I gave up. I cried. I bawled for the loss of the pig and because I was ‘losing it.’

I bawled for the master butcher and what he’d have to endure in future.

Eighteen months on I remember that I couldn’t remember. I remember the frustration and the grief. The sow had been wounded not dead, I couldn’t find her because she was not there but she is dead this time, I know she is ‘cos I can smell her buttock roasting right now. Mmmmm delicious.

Over on the face I could not find the sow. Generation after generation of women in my family have succumbed to early onset dementia and today it reared its ugly head and signalled in no uncertain terms I would follow the path of mother and grandmother before

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Issue 166 9

Have your say on protecting Hector’s and Maui dolphins Some of the world’s rarest marine mammals live in our backyard, and we want people’s views.

This week the Government has reached out for public feedback on its long term plan to protect Hector’s and Māui dolphins. Māui dolphins in particular are in a perilous position – there are only about 63 of them left. There are about 15000 Hector’s and they are classified as nationally vulnerable.

Fisheries New Zealand and the Department of Conservation have pulled together the best available scientific evidence about the risks to these dolphins, which draws on a range of new data and helps us to decide where to focus our efforts to protect them.

Now, we want to hear what people have to say on a range of options in three areas:

• Restrictions to fishing in areas where the dolphins live • Developing a plan to tackle the threat from the disease toxoplasmosis • Restrictions to seabed mining and seismic activity.

We’ve worked on these proposals, as well as coordinating the science and other information which underpins

them. This work gives us our clearest picture yet of where the risks are and what to do about them.

There has been debate among some scientists about the scale of risk presented by the disease toxoplasmosis. We welcome this as an important part of the scientific process and further research has been included as one of the priorities in the plan to hlp address uncertainty.

We stand by the rigour of our scientific risk assessment and think it gives us a good basis to put options before the public.

Having said that, complete scientific consensus is rare, and if we continue to debate the finer points until everyone agrees, there’s a good chance there will be no Māui dolphins left to save. It’s important, given the threatened status of the dolphins, to address as many of the threats to their survival as possible. Toxoplasmosis is a confirmed cause of death in

both Hector’s and Māui dolphins, so we are also proposing the development of a toxoplasmosis action plan to address this threat to the dolphins.

The options for directly addressing risks from fishing range from moderate additions to existing restrictions through to significant additional closures.

There are currently 15,000 square kilometres of New Zealand waters closed to set netting, and 8,000 square kilometres with trawl restrictions. At the higher end of the range, the options would add restrictions of 21,700 square kilometres to commercial and recreational set netting (109% increase) and 20,800

square kilometres to trawling (or a 285% increase).

opportunities and risks alongside each of the proposals.

The consultation also includes proposals to extend the boundaries of the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary south to Wellington and for the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary to extend north to Kaikōura, south to Timaru, and offshore to 20 nautical miles.

We encourage people to go to the Fisheries New Zealand or Department of Conservation website, find out more about what we’re proposing and make your voice heard.

In considering these options, we must not lose sight of the fact that any closures will affect people and their livelihoods.

These are tough decisions that need to be made. Through the consultation we want people to help us better understand the

Stuart Anderson Director Fisheries Management Fisheries New Zealand Ian Angus Manager Marine Species and Threats Department of Conservation

Changes to recreational rules for

Southern Bluefin Tuna A daily bag limit of 1 southern bluefin tuna per person, per day is now in place.

This is the first time a recreational daily bag limit has been put in place.

It reflects the need to carefully manage the rebuild of this stock and ensure our international obligations under the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) are met.

A recreational daily bag limit will be in place until there is a better understanding of this highly variable developing fishery, and while longer term measures are explored.

For more information please visit our website www.fisheries.govt.nz

10 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Bush bulldozer bumps bonus deer Elliot Hendry

familiar sound of a hooves running in the opposite direction.

By sheer luck, the deer stopped to look back to see what the commotion was, right where I had a small window of visibility through the bush and my .270 did the rest, dropping the unlucky yearling on the spot.

It's fair to say I'm not a ninja in the bush, a more accurate description would be bush bulldozer. My ‘“bush hunting’” usually involves charging in a straight line up the hill to the open tops, as quickly as I can!

However, when my good friend Andy invited me bush hunting/ stalking for the day, I jumped at the chance to tag along.

Saturday morning saw us stalking along a myriad of tracks Andy had blazed throughout this block. I swear that man has a GPS unit installed in his brain;, I would've been seriously lost without him! It was evident, due to the amount of fresh sign scattered around, there was a decent population of deer present somewhere in this jungle.

Dropping off the side of a track, Andy informed me there was a gully ahead that often held a deer. Despite making my way downhill as quietly as a human bulldozer can be, I heard the

After loading my pack with all the meat (I knew Andy invited me for a reason!), we decided to continued on our intended route down the gully. We hadn't crept far when we heard a deer bark its alarm call, out to our left in a patch of thick undergrowth.

Andy signalled for me to move back uphill to cover that escape route.

This had the unintended consequence of scaring the deer out of the undergrowth straight towards him. Andy promptly dispatched it from a distance of 5m, proving that even bush bulldozers can be useful sometimes!

Fish Mainland to represent South Island marine recreational fishers The Fishing Paper & Hunting News has run a series of articles on a working group formed to explore establishing a professional, adequately funded organisation to represent the interests of all 100,000+ South Island marine recreational fishers to Government and others.

The working group met mid-June to consider the feedback received since its draft components of the representative organisation were set out in the April issue.

The working group focused on the two main challenges in establishing an effective organisation – a demonstrated mandate for representation and long-term funding.

The working group considers that it has drafted the best possible means of Fish Mainland building a mandate for representation, based on an electoral system to select a Board of Directors at the regional and Iwi level.

The group considers the Board of Directors should comprise:

One Director for each of the following regional groupings: Nelson, Tasman Bay, Golden Bay and Upper West Coast; Marlborough and Kaikoura; Canterbury; Otago and Lower West Coast; and Southland, Clutha and Stewart Island.

An independent Chairperson.

The working group prioritised options for funding Fish Mainland.

Two Directors for the South Island Iwi – Te Tau Ihu Iwi o Te Waka a Maui and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.

First, the Government provide a small portion of the excise duty paid when using petrol in recreational boats. The excise duty paid by recreational fishers is essentially a subsidy for roading projects.

Two Directors selected for their professional expertise – one lawyer and one accountant.

Second, the Government fund Fish Mainland to deliver services, starting with representation, consultation,

communication and promotion of recreational fishers’ interests. The intent is to also include better catch and effort data to improve management decision making.

Third, the Government agree to one-for-one matching funding. The past Labour Government offered funding on this basis, but it was declined. The working group will seek it again.

Finally, if fishers need to contribute to Fish Mainland funding, the best option would be a fee similar to

The working group chose Fish Mainland as the name for the organisation. Its purpose is to coordinate, represent, and promote the interests of the South Island marine recreational fishing community in restoring and sustaining fisheries resources to improve their fishing experience.

A modest fee paid, coupled with purchase discounts, could provide power boatbased fishers with a net gain. Portions of the fee paid would also be set aside to fund projects that directly benefit local fishers, such as improved boat ramps and cleaning stations.

The working group acknowledges that a fishing from a power boat-based fee system would have more appeal if it is independent of Government, due to concerns that the system would start with a low fee that would increase over time. The intent is to cap the fee and pursue other revenue streams, as required.

Fish Mainland’s vision: A healthy and abundant marine environment in which recreational fishers have an equitable share of available fisheries resources and are respected partners in management decisions.

Jim Crossland – Chair of the working group said, “While Fish Mainland’s explicit role is to promote the benefits of recreational fishing, its effectiveness will largely come through working respectfully and collaboratively with Government, Iwi, the other fishing sectors and interests to find workable solutions that provide the best public outcomes.”

what fishers pay in Western Australia to fish from a power boat. It applies to fishers, not the boat. If the skipper is the only one who paid the fee, then the catch of all on board must be within the skipper’s bag limits. If others on board want to fish to their own bag limits, they too must pay the fee.

Fee paying fishers would have the right to vote for regional Board members.

Non-fee paying fishers could have free membership without voting rights.

The working group from front to back: Tanya Dann (Stewart Island), Fred Te Miha (Ngāti Tama), Neville Gurr (Canterbury Sport Fishing Club), Barbara Reay (Akaroa Harbour Fishing Club), Larnce Wichman (Te Korowai – Kaikoura), Alan Key (Southland), Jim Crossland (Akaroa Harbour Fishing Club), Randall Bess (The Nature Conservancy), Stewart Bull (Ngāi Tahu), Nigel Scott (Ngāi Tahu), Brett Bensemann (Tautuku Fishing Club).

The next step is for the working group to develop a three-year business plan that highlights Fish Mainland’s benefits for both Government and recreational fishers.

Contact the chair of the working group – Jim Crossland 021 0294 5996 / 03 355 9433 bayfieldenter@xtra.co.nz

Issue 166 11

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12 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

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A dream destination, holiday of a lifetime, and one you really should do now Daryl Crimp's

Alaska

a e S and

d r n u o a T L by y Hosted 23 Da

0 2 0 2 UNE

J

For the full itinerary & dates contact Phil Harris - P 03 528 1550 - E philh@worldtravellers.co.nz

Grumbling beavers, bears, and insane salmon Daryl Crimp

T

he throaty growl of the Beaver suddenly settled to a purr as the pilot trimmed for straight and level flight. The tiny lake near Soldotna dropped away behind us and for the first time I got a bird’s appreciation of how vast Alaska is. And how ‘wet’; there were tiny lakes everywhere beneath us and the Kenai River flowed strongly like a giant artery giving life to the peninsula that the native Athabascan Indians called Yaghanen, the good land. The Kenai Peninsula, over which we were flying, is named after the Kenaitze tribe that lived along the river.

Crimpy with a salmon against the brooding backdrop that is Alaska

A thirty-minute flight saw us crossing Cook Inlet and descending toward Big River Lake, nestled in the embrace of the rugged mountain foothills. As we slipped in low over the muskeg swamp and clusters of feeding moose, it was easy to make out the meandering waterway that fed down to the ocean some four hours away by boat.

Salmon navigated its twists and turns every year, seeking out tiny spawning streams like Wolverine Creek, and salmon were our focus this drab overcast Alaskan morning.

The twin floats kissed the water with a feather’s touch as the pilot gunned the motor in a drive on landing and, in no time, we off-loaded onto an aluminium boat and were under the instruction of our local guide, an amiable bloke and veteran of some twenty-something seasons. As the floatplane grumbled its way back into the sky, we boated a short distance to a steep rubbled ‘waterfall’ and the guide killed the outboard.

An Alaskan silence immediately enveloped

us and the enormity of the experience became apparent. This was as wild as it gets and has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Five of us fished from the same platform, which had the potential for a monumental cock-up but it didn’t faze our guide.

“Cast one after another past the edge of the discoloured water,” he instructed, “and when someone hooks up, lines out of the water for the rest of you.”

The 1950s Beaver added nostalgia and ambience to the trip

“Cast into that shadow along the edge of the bank,” I queried.

“Look again,” said the guide.

T

he shadow was actually a mass of cruising salmon, so dense I was taken to calling them ‘Alaskan whitebait’!

This was my first taste of insane fishing; flick out lure, slow crank of the reel — FISH ON! It was mayhem, with multiple hook ups and grown

men giggling and yelping like schoolgirls. These salmon were mainly silvers or coho and, with our limit of three per person, it looked as if it was going to be an incredibly short day’s fishing.

We switched to catch and release to prolong

The brown bear showed no fear of us

Majdi Ashchi, Paddy de Padua, Tom Gibson, James Chang, and Crimpy an ecclectic bunch of salmon slayers

the fun, but any bleeders had to be knocked on the head, so several of the boys had limited out in less than 20 minutes! As a side note, I was impressed with the Americans adherence of the fishing regulations; there wasn’t a hint of bending the rules or fudging numbers the whole time I fished Alaska.

The bite switched off as quickly as it had turned on, so we tried another part of the lake, a narrow waterway though thick sedges. Here I limited out with an acrobatic beauty that eventually wove me into the thick grasses and shouted in true Walt Disney fashion, “Stalemate, Crimpy!”

Unbelievably, I applied heavy side pressure and the salmon ‘walked’ back the way it had come.

Sometimes luck is on your table.

Majdi, my good friend from Florida, was struggling to fill his bag, but did so in inimitable style: he flopped a duff cast over a clump of sedges and into the edge of a back eddy. While frantically trying to avoid a snag, he hooked the biggest fish of the morning and happily put the cap on a great hour’s fishing.

Then we went bear watching. That alone was worth the trip. The brown bear comes down from the mountains during the salmon season and ‘preloads’ for hibernation. Unless very hungry, browns are selective eaters and only eat the brain of a salmon before moving on to the next.

W

atching nature unfold from

only twenty metres away was a sublime experience and forever stamped Alaska into my genetic make up; I knew in that moment, like spawning salmon, the lure to return would prove irresistible.

While Daryl Crimp’s Alaska is not a fishing trip, it is a package for the adventurous at heart and those who have a pioneering spirit.

Come with me and experience what makes Alaska a truly unique destination.

LET’S MAKE ALASKA GREAT AGAIN: CRIMP

s ' p m i r C Daryl

Alaska

by Land and Sea 23 Day Hosted Tour JUNE 2020

Alaska a must do destination

The Majestic Bald Eagle

Daryl Crimp

A

laska…

the mere name evokes images of raw

wilderness and abundant wildlife. Huge,

endless mountain chains, glaciers that caterpillar rivers of ice miles wide, vast tundra, wild salmon that run like whitebait… and Alaska’s Big Five: grizzly bear, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and wolves.

One of the world’s most remarkable destinations, Alaska was bought from the Russians in 1867 for a whopping 2 cents an acre in a deal negotiated

by Secretary of State William Seward. At the time, it was largely unexplored and critics labelled the purchase Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox. Today is remains America’s most sparsely populated state but the most popular adventure playground and a major drawcard for tourists from around the globe—there really is nothing comparable to Alaska.

Daryl Crimp’s Alaska by Land and Sea is the ultimate Alaskan Adventure, taking in the history, the breathtaking scenery, the arctic wildlife, and the amazing culture of this absorbing region. What more fitting way to start our adventure than from Vancouver Canada, the once rough and tumble trading post and sawmilling town, now a throbbing metropolis and hub for outdoor adventurists.

We then fly direct to Whitehorse in the Yukon, the frontier post of the Klondike Gold Rush era, and follow the route of the Klondike gold stampeders to the famous Dawson City, home of Bonanza Creek where stampeders pried $500 million in gold from the frozen ground. Highlights include Jack London Museum, and Diamond

Colourful Ketchikan - Historic Town

Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall.

From here we fly to Fairbanks where we experience a cruise on the only remaining authentic Alaskan sternwheeler, see a demonstration of a winning Iditarod dog sled team, and visit the old Chena Indian Village. Other highlights include a trappers cabin, gold dredge, and demonstration of a fish wheel in action—these were used to catch salmon to feed dog teams in the pioneer days.

Alaska is not complete without a visit to the tundra and Denali is a definite highpoint of this journey; the vistas and wildlife are awe-inspiring. This is capped off by a spectacular train journey to Anchorage, where you can take in the Northern Lights—the aurora borealis—on a clear dark night.

Frontier Rail Journey

This is just a taste because this trip has it all: what better way to cement all those amazing memories than with a luxury sea cruise, departing Seward and navigating the Inside Passage, where you take in amazing glaciers, ice-studded fjords, see bald eagles skim the water’s surface, and watch humpback and killer whales feed on the abundant fish life. En route we stop off and explore iconic and colourful townships like Juneau and Ketchikan.

Daryl Crimp's

Alaska For the full itinerary & dates contact Phil Harris - P 03 528 1550 - E philh@worldtravellers.co.nz

by Land and Sea 23 Day Hosted Tour

JUNE 2020

Issue 166 17

Monster no match for Jake Jake Gardiner

We got up at 4.30am to drive to Okiwi Bay, aiming to be at d’Urville Island by eight, trying to time the tide so we could fish for snapper in the morning and kingies later in the tide.

By 10.30 we hadn’t managed to catch any snapper and I was starting to get bored, so we moved location to jig for kingies.

On the first drift, my dad landed a fish around 20lb—then I hooked a big kingi that really tested me out. I'm only eleven and weigh 25 kg so it was hard to wind it in. However, after a huge 20 minute battle, I finally got it to the boat and I felt relieved. Dad thought it was as big as I was!

Jake dealt a blow to this behemoth

Cray the uncivilised way

Cole Ryan I have huge respect for the free divers, who I watch on the internet, diving down and amazingly finding and pulling crayfish out from under underwater ledges on a single breath of air, but I’m not one of them. I choose to hunt in a different way and breathe underwater.

Unlike the free diver, I have plenty of time; a whole tank of air time.

Every interesting nook and cranny and cavern on the ocean’s floor is explored while moving along looking for the quarry. It’s always a beautiful journey swimming from one interesting underwater cathedral to another, lightening up the dark recesses with the torch, searching, but it’s only when the quarry appears that the true game begins.

Getting hold of a big cray, like the ones in the photo, is a combination of a game of chess and punching the control buttons on a pinball

machine; if you judge it well, and are lucky, and get a grip on the thing, then getting it from its preferred place of residence to the catch bag is generally a no holds barred shit-fight. You’re in its world and it’s a powerful regulator hose grabbing, flesh piercing, pissed off thing. Sometimes it’s hard to know who has who—it’s a battle with no guaranteed winner. For me, it’s a ‘living in the moment’ experience that expels any other worldly concerns from my mind.

And if it all goes well, the catch bag contains a five star lunch.

A more civilized way of enjoying a crayfish meal is choosing one from a live tank at the fishmonger or a cooked one from a roadside stall on the way through Kaikoura and savour it with some warm garlic butter or curry mayonnaise. But, whatever, don’t call me late for dinner— just uncivilised!

Cole likes his cray the uncivilised way

BOOK REVIEW We Can See You Simon Kernick Penguin Random House RRP $37 Reviewed by Daryl Crimp With a slew of successful hits under UK thriller writer Simon Kernick’s belt, including Relentless—the biggest selling thriller in 2007, I confess to being late opening the door of his stable. That will be quickly remedied.

For those who like classic pacy whodunnits with red herrings, twists and turns, great characters, and sharp ‘clippy’ writing that keeps you turning pages, this guy is for you. A lot of average thrillers have come on the market recently and they have all been touted as ‘sensational, explosive, spell-binding— blahdy blahdy blah—but Kernick deserves the faint praise they have given this one… high octane.

We Can See You follows the unravelling of the seemingly perfect life of the central character, Brook,

when her and Logan’s daughter is kidnapped and the Nanny’s finger delivered as a warning. The kidnappers demand a paltry ransom, in itself a bizarre twist, and demand she not go to the police, an obvious directive, because ‘We Can See You’— an intriguing device. The writer flicks from the present to the past in laying bare this mosaic of suspense and intrigue. In a short space of time, the protagonist switches from victim to alleged mass murderer and the chase is on for her to solve her own ‘crime’ while the police blindly close in. There are some shocking moments, moments that shock, and a surprise revelation at the end.

A bloody good read.

18 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Captain’s Log: Beam me up spotty A long long, long stalk

It had been a long stalk, the dust of the Limpopo bushveld coating my Courteney boots and a thousand thorns puncturing their solid leader soles.

Solid leather soles are critical when hunting Africa because they offer the quietest tread—silent footsteps in the dirt and grit.

However, the monster waterbuck had the uncanny ability to hear the unheard and vanished like a slick card trick. For three years the waterbuck, my PH Hennie, and I had danced amongst the thorns in this game of cat and mouse and it was fast becoming tiresome.

“These big old bulls, Sir

Crimpy,” Hennie addressed me in respectful tones, “are super cunning—we just need to keep working him until he makes a mistake.”

“Hopefully before I die of old age,” I added.

Hunting Africa is a dream for many hunters and, to that end, I have been taking groups of Kiwi hunters on safari to the Dark Continent for the past four years, with an excellent success and satisfaction rate. There are many pitfalls to hunting Africa so I specialise in genuine fair chase hunts on established animal populations, rather than the now popular ‘put and take’ safaris where operators are buying animals off game breeders and releasing them before you arrive.

I also have areas where you

can enjoy pure free range wild hunting experiences and have a variety of areas where you can hunt. Most recently I have introduced wild buffalo hunting in Mozambique and will soon be launching horseback hunts in South Africa. I have partnered with very experienced and professional outfitters, both who have, collectively, forty years experience in the field, and top level professional taxidermist. We handle all dip and shipping, crating, and freighting so you can enjoy a no stress safari.

This year, the waterbuck kicked my butt for two days, always disappearing in a sleight of hand. Until I suggested ‘drop and roll’.

Hennie grinned.

This morning we drove through his territory en route

to kudu country. At my nod, Hennie jumped off the bakkie, catching my rifle as I threw it. I jumped and rolled.

Malibongwe kept driving

until he was out of sight.

Hennie and I, covered in dust, crawled into the thorns.

Half an hour later, my .300

Win Mag barked loudly but the waterbuck was none the wiser.

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Optically Speaking Winter is a great time to hunt, an early dusk presents excellent opportunities to get out after work without getting back home too late, and the general lack of food preoccupies animals with feeding. It is also a great time to hammer pests before their spring breeding increases numbers.

Shooting at night is usually from a stationary position, beginning before dusk until a couple of hours after dark, or whilst walking for a short distance, and periodically stopping to scan for targets. The difficulty of the terrain determines which technique is best, as moving in darkness must be safe and stealthy. Shooting pests normally involves a moving approach to maximise ground covered, and is especially useful on farmland, vineyards, orchards, and on pathways.

Hand-held night vision and thermal imaging optics Though I am a great fan of thermal imaging optics, I also frequently use night vision systems, especially night vision rifle sights. A

Ant Corke

hand-held thermal imager for spotting and identifying targets, and a night vision riflescope for shooting, is a very potent combination.

Hand-held night vision optics are also very useful, especially for security and for the budget conscious. The following is a breakdown of techniques for hand-held optic: • Night vision riflesight or thermal riflesight. The rifle is safely slung to the shoulder whilst walking and spotting with the hand-held optic.

No visible light is used, which is ideal for taking multiple shots.

• Daylight riflesight fitted with a night vision attachment. Same technique as for the riflescope, but uses a thermal or night vision device that is attached to your riflescope.

This is a very effective and convenient solution.

• Spotlight or torch. Once the target is identified and approached within shooting range, the light is switched on with the rifle shouldered and ready to take the shot.

Using a red beam gives the shooter more time, though white can also be effective.

Hunting the dark nights of winter Headmounted night vision goggle or monocular Walk in extreme darkness with an infrared torch that casts a powerful beam of invisible light, that looks like a spotlight when viewed through the goggle. Animals and humans can be spotted without being seen, ideal for farm security. A goggle can also be used to navigate a boat and to drive a vehicle, when correctly set-up.

Once the animal is spotted the shot can be taken with any of the above techniques.

Another option is fitting a laser sight to your rifle and taking the shot from the waist, or the shoulder whilst

looking at the target through the goggle. This is effective for shooting possums, goats, pigs, and deer at close distances, and is both exciting and a cost effective approach to night hunting.

Riflesight only Using a night vision or thermal riflesight to spot, identify, and shoot is a viable option for short hunts as long as the terrain is suitable. I usually walk a few paces, stop and check my surroundings, before moving on. I have employed this technique well in orchards, vineyards, farmland, and forestry tracks.

I generally don’t recommend this way of hunting, but then I sometimes use it

Judging distance at night is highly important. The Sternhelle AUX-LRF 7 is an ideal add-on to any night vision riflescope.

Using a hand-held spotter with rifle slung to shoulder

myself to good effect!

Walking in the dark and using the riflescope to scan

for targets is a technique only recommended for experienced firearm users.

An easier option is to sit or lie in wait from a fixed position for animals.

Whatever your budget, or style of hunting, if you are keen to get into night hunting, or are looking to upgrade your gear, visit www.yukonoptics.co.nz or drop into your local Yukon Pulsar New Zealand stockist.

I recommend that you look through the equipment and fully understand its capabilities before purchase.

Issue 166 19

Tripping on magic mushrooms… er—pilchards The gannets, seals, and dolphins were working a tight ball of bait on the surface. A less common sight to see in the Inner Sounds through the middle of winter and well worth inspecting.

Approaching the work-up, I steered the boat as Captain Smeds leant overboard with the landing net, plunging it into the water.

What a scene! Smeds managed to scoop up a net full of pilchards, sending the boat into a frenzy with fish all over the back deck.

Pilchards absolutely everywhere!

Fast forward to now, being the middle of summer, and we are still reaping the rewards of that unusual bait mission. Nothing beats fresh New Zealand pilchards for snapper bait!

Speared tarakihi

Our first fishing trip for 2019 started with the Yamaha outboard breaking the morning’s silence as we left Duncan Bay. Armed with rods, spearguns, and enough leftover Christmas ham to berley in half of the snapper in the Pelorus Sound, we set the longline in one of our favourite bays. Each hook was baited with a whole pilchard, which didn’t seem wasteful as we still had a bucket full of them back in the freezer.

Longline set, we moved on to target some blue cod around the Outer Sounds. Things looked to be productive as Smeds drew first blood in the chilly bin before the rest of us could bait a hook. There were plenty of legal sized blue cod around but catching the bigger models over the smaller ones

Bryn Williams

proved to be more difficult than we first thought.

The tide changed and in a matter of minutes the current was strong enough to keep our sinkers off the bottom. A humbling reminder not to underestimate the strength of the ocean and how fast it can change.

We switched from an exposed point to a sheltered bay and I decided it was time to throw on the wetsuit. I duck dived, expecting to see the bottom littered with blue cod and was not disappointed. The curious fish swarmed towards me, staring me down like dogs waiting for a bone. There were tarakihi down there too, swimming slightly higher in the water column, and down deeper. I let rip with my speargun, adding tarakihi to the blue cod tally growing in the chilly

Longline snapper

Gurnard love pilchards

bin. They were a lot smaller and delicate compared to the blue cod, requiring more patience and stealth to entice close enough for a shot.

Once we had enough for a feed, we headed back inland, stopping along the way to search for a kingfish or two but without any luck.

Time to check the longline and see what the pilchards had

produced. A snapper on the first hook was a good start, followed by four gurnard, and another snapper to finish it off. Magic pilchards strike again.

The Marlborough Sounds had provided a mixed bag and enough fresh fish for the rest of the holiday season. It was a great way to kick off the first of many fishing adventures this year.

&

Travels

NIGHT VISION

Katja’s view of the world

Renowned Swedish anthropologist Prof.

Katja Leendeström was spotted in Zimbabwe reading The Fishing Paper & Hunting News while taking a break from her recent lecture tour. Prof. Katja is a professor of antisocial anthropology at the University of Vildmark and is currently touring historic graves in Africa, lecturing residents on the follies of their colonial ways.

She is seen here at the grave of Cecil Rhodes, where she lectured him on the fact that he didn’t smile a lot. She says history and the locals would not have vilified him as much if he looked happier in photos.

after her name—Prof. Katjan Leendeström SO.BLDY.CHRFUL—believes smiles are contagious and can be paid forward. She certainly lit up the faces of the street hawkers in Victoria Falls when she traded her smelly shoes for a brillion dollars. One local reckoned she could have held out for 50 trillion if she hadn’t been so damned nice.

Katja loves The Fishing Paper because it gives such a happy ‘View of the World

The anthropologist, who has many letters

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20 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Letsgo fishing Addu - do it today

Lying in the Indian Ocean is a chain of sparkling gems called the Maldives; even the name sounds exotic and rightly so. Sprinkled across the equator, the climate is tropical so the archipelago basks in sunshine throughout the year and boasts the best fishing in South East Asia.

Historically, fishing has provided the main income for Maldivians and it has only recently been surpassed by tourism, yet fishing remains intrinsic to the value and charm of this destination. While tourism may ring a hollow bell for the adventurous, parts of the Maldives remain relatively untapped: Addu atoll, for example, is pearl in this cluster of gems—quite unique. This atoll forms a heart-shaped chain of islands to the south east, which, both literally and figuratively, makes it the heart beyond the equator .

A different dialect is spoken in Addu and the city’s famous white terns are found nowhere else in the Maldives. It’s like an omen, for fishing is integral to the soul of this community and Adduans are renowned for their pole and line fishing.

They are also innovators, leading the emergence

Daryl Crimp

of sport fishing to this gamefish-rich part of the world. Global game fishers and fishing enthusiasts have recently discovered this new ‘Eldorado’ and are capitalising on this nascent Maldives’ industry.

Giant trevally

Kaikoura-based company Letsgo Addu, formed by local entrepreneur and business woman Penny Betts, specifically promotes this corner of the Maldives because it fits with the Kiwi desire for fresh, unspoilt destinations but also because it is an unexploited recreational fishery. Penny says, that while there is a raft of of activities to suit holidaymakers, such as waterspouts, nature parks tours, snorkelling, and scuba diving, the fishing is a real drawcard.

“Giant trevally (GTs), wahoo, yellowfin tuna, barracuda, dogtooth tuna, grouper, rainbow runners, and red snapper are some of the species guaranteed to whet the appetite of visiting anglers,” says Penny, “and there are plenty of options: game fishing, reef fishing, and night fishing.’

Letsgo Addu works in association with the leading game fishing agents in Addu, utilising the best equipped boats, top qualified skippers,

and fully trained crew. All modern fishing techniques are catered for and gear supplied—although you are encouraged to bring your own. And with the fishing grounds close to the atoll, fishing time is maximised— there is little down time travelling.

“Fishing with these guys is not like conventional charters,” says Penny,

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“because they are naturally such friendly and hospitable people.”

Fishing trips are arranged as half-day charters: trolling, popping, and jigging. Other activities such as scuba diving and snorkelling can be incorporated into your itinerary. And to make your trip more special and memorable, Letsgo Addu can even arrange a pole and line

fishing experience for tuna on a local fishing boat.

Addu in the Maldives is also a fly fishing GT paradise, with anglers from all around the world travelling there in the hope of fulfilling that fishing dream of a lifetime.

The perception is Maldives is expensive and remote but Letsgo Addu’s reality is affordable and exciting

fishing packages catered for the Kiwi fishing enthusiast— and partners. It is highly unlikely and extremely rare that you will return to shore empty-handed.

For more information on fishing Addu email or call now and reserve your spot.

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TIDES OF CHANGE Poppa Mike

OVERLANDER - One Man’s EpicRace to Cross Australia

By Rupert Guinness Stories about taming the Australian outback fascinate me, having spent considerable time there and read a lot about the early explorers and pioneers.

One man in particular caught my admiration Francis Birtles, the pushbike explorer who traversed the wilderness from north to south, then west to east, plus other punishing trips sleeping rough and tackling the hostile interior alone. His adventures and perseverance were amazing. Robert Guinness acknowledges Francis and several of his contemporaries in the Introduction and in Chapter 1. These amazing folk, both men and women have been termed ‘overlanders’, something they certainly were as they tackled unsealed bush tracks, deserts, rivers, swamps, bushland, wildlife, and weather in the quests to get from A to B. The ‘overlanders’ feature in another recent book by Rupert titled Power of the Pedal: The Story of Australian Cycling.

More than 100 years later

another group of cyclists assembled near Perth, dipped their back wheels in the Indian Ocean and set off on the IndiPac race headed for Sydney, via Adelaide, Melbourne, and Canberra, about 5,000kms. A front wheel dipped into the Pacific would end the race.

It soon became apparent that this was an ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’ writing style.The foreword by Kristof Allegaert, the introduction, and the following chapters were written in the first person.

The first page containing 17 examples. Random later pages have even more. It was the famous writer Roald Dahl that warned of the risks when writing about yourself or your life in his book ‘Boy’.

Rupert Guinness has let himself get carried away in this respect.

Then there are the photos, a large number featuring Rupert in various poses in various locations. I sense that the publishers have let Rupert and themselves down by allowing this book to be published in this style. Other ‘mamils’(middle aged men in lycra suits) might relate to this style but not the general

public reader.

Then there is the title ‘OVERLANDER’. Rupert and the others may well have completed an amazing physical feat, supposedly unsupported, but comfy hotel/motel beds most nights, cooked meals, the latest bike technology, sealed signposted roads, and electronic communications have very little in common with the true Overlanders.

The publishers could easily have come up with a more appropriate title.

Great event, great achievements, an interesting journey across Australia still offer plenty for the reader but I can’t help feeling that this was a rushed publication, the 16th by the same author, that the publisher pushed off to the printer with lack of due care and attention as deserved. With more effort in the early stages, this could have been a best seller.

Published by Simon & Schuster RRP $40

Issue 166 21

STICK YOUR OAR IN HAVE YOUR SAY…

CRIMPTOON

email all your letters to editor@thefishingpaper.co.nz

Let's get to the bottom of this Dear Ed Someone, somewhere, is pulling the chain and not caring where it ends up!

Nelson surfers have complained after being exposed to raw sewage when surfing of Nelson’s Boulder Bank. As their surfing location is very close to the Nelson City Council

sewage treatment plant and outlet many considered this the source of the problem.

However NCC claim that toilet paper and faeces cannot be discharged from their site as liquid grey water is the only material that could possibly overflow.

They in turn claim that the raw sewage probably came from boats, raising the ire of local marina users and boat owners who pass through this area.

Let’s hope authorities can get to the bottom of this matter before more people are affected by this health hazard.

P Vaughn Nelson

Wilding pines insidious menace Deerstalkers New Zealand

The continuing spread of wilding pines is a serious menace to New Zealand’s back country, says the NZ Deerstalkers’ Association Inc. “We join other public groups in asking the government to tackle them now and in the foreseeable future,” says NZDA spokesman Bill O’Leary, of Nelson. “If left unchecked, they will forever change our unique high country landscape. The biggest

impacts will be on our unique biodiversity, pastoral farming, and soaking up our precious water resources.

“Also wilding conifer forests will make access to the high country increasingly challenging for recreationists, including hunters. Recent events have also highlighted the fire risk.

We have every good reason to be concerned. ” Hunters had already reported seedlings growing

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in remote places from the northern Ruahines to the Marlborough back country and the Mackenzie basin, Mr O’Leary said.

“Individual hunters and trampers pull some up but not in a systematic or comprehensive way. The scale of the problem is immense and it has to be tackled on a large scale. The way that pines can seed and multiply very rapidly makes it a different challenge compared to possum control

programmes.

“Communities and government must consider this a priority for future funding and control.

Proven control methods of including spray and helicopter wanding and the work of ground based personnel are having the desired effect. Costs of these operations are significant, but hunters believe there is no alternative; we need to be in for the long haul.”

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22 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

Rare barra-marlin nicked

Fizz Nick Bennett is a pretty good rooster who works in Melbourne as a stainless steel welder and fabricator.

He comes from good Marlborough stock, being the youngest son of me mates Rayza and Debbie.

Apparently he’s a bit of a chick magnet on account of his high performance athlete’s body (just like Crimpy’s), but he switched from chasing fluff to fins over the summer and came to Blenheim for a spot of fishing.

Rayza and Debbie have done the unthinkable and sold their 5.85m alloy boat—he reckons he has more fun and catches more fish in his 12ft tinny.

Recently, he was trolling for kingfish but caught up with a big school of barracouta and one of the critters jumped clean out of the water and landed in his boat. Can’t argue with that. However, I guess I can cut him some slack, because he sold the big boat to his oldest son Marty, but it’s still parked in Rayza’s garage. Reckon he has his head screwed on right that man.

I took young Nick out in the good ship White Pearl in the hope of a snapper and the signs looked

Nick with a prized Cook Strait sailfish

The one I let get away Jeff Holden

Darn alarm clock ringing at 3.00am but by 3.30am I had the boat hooked up and had set off for Penzance Bay. At 5.00am I launched the boat in the dark and headed for a spot I knew 31 metres deep and baited up.

promising. There was plenty of feed about—perhaps too much—in the form of those squat lobster, a type of krill. Bloody sea was lousy with the beggars so I s’pose the snapper were gorging themselves silly because they certainly weren’t biting our lines.

All was not lost though,

because Nick did catch this finely tuned barracouta— must run in the family. I took a picture of him with it and suggested he take it back and show all the Melbourne socialite chicks and tell them its the highly prized Cook Strait sailfish—a rare species of barra-marlin.

Reckon he’d have all the girls swooning then.

An hour later four gurnard between 45 and 54cm long were in the bin. It was time to try deeper water. Just 15 minutes later I arrived at a 70m deep hole. I chucked some bait on a couple of lines and dropped them in.

First drift through the area to get the direction of current.

I moved back up stream and dropped the lines back down. After three drifts having lost three lots of gear to sharks, I swapped out for steel trace. Four sharks up to 1.5m come and go. A bait ball appeared, with some good large shapes amongst it. I threw a 200gm jig on one line and dropped the other baited line behind me. I dropped the jig to the bottom and was about to start working it when the other line went off. After pulling another shark to the top the jig rod bent over. I put the other rod in a holder and grab the lively rod. It had 50lb braid so should be able to land most things.

It took about 15 minutes to make any headway. I looked down and could just see colour, looked like a big shark. It came up to about seven metres below the boat and it definitely was a shark with a big long tail. It was a thresher, nearly 12ft.

Did I mention my boat was only nine foot? I wound up another couple of metres and bugger me, there was my jig wrapped around the line five metres above the shark? WTF. He must have swum into the line about six metres above the jig and then headed for the surface wrapping the jig and line together but how was it attached to the line?

Because I stopped winding to prevent line jamming in the rod tip, the shark calmed down and wasn’t running, just slowly circling. I had a decision to make. Cut the line below the jig or slowly raise it by hand, braid with no gloves. I really wanted to know how it was attached to the line so I decided to slowly raise it by hand. It took about five minutes and my new buddy remained calm and didn’t cut my fingers off.

I got him right up to the boat and what a beautiful

Howling with wolves – fishing with bears

animal. Iridescent bluegreen changing colour as he moved in the water. So calm I reached out and patted him. I could now see that the braid had cut into his pectoral fin. The fin was abut 25cm from front to back and the braid had cut into it about five to six centimetres.

I felt stink to have caused such damage to my new buddy. He was just lying there looking at me through one eye. I had let the brake off on the reel so if he took off nothing would break. I gave him another pat then gently grabbed the fin and let go of the braid, no reaction. I then reached out and started to work the braid out of the fin. He still didn’t move.

Once it was free I released the fin gave him a pat and gently pushed him away. He dropped his nose and slowly swam away.

I felt pretty good about causing minimum damage releasing him. I sat there and wished I had thought of taking a photo but it seemed more important to let him go. Just then there was a great splash 20m away as he leapt clear of the water. He leapt three times before he left me. What a buzz.

Part 1

Graham Gurr

We were remote, in the true wilderness, an hour’s flying from the lodge. Dave had walked downstream to where he could see some silver salmon leaping and, by separating himself from the group, inadvertently put himself at some risk, as we discovered when the wolves began to howl.

Wolf

Dave’s son Rob and one of the guides immediately went to retrieve Dave, who walked (quickly) rather than ran, as running is a prey response, which may have elicited an attack. The wolves kept howling — a primeval sound that prickles the hair on the back of your neck. Welcome to Ugashik

Lake, Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Blaine, another of the guides, launched a drone and instantly found the wolves, six of them, close to where Dave had been.

A pack of wolves can bring down an adult moose weighing 700kg, so what chance would one man have?

The lure was savagely attacked every few casts

We went back to fishing.

Conditions were fine and clear — not the best for silver salmon, but I’ll take that over rain any day, and normally in Alaska you expect rain.

We’d spotted the fish gathering in the bay, preparing to run the stream to spawn, as we’d flown in.

A long black shadow with the occasional fish leaping clear of the water.

licence allowed. The fifth they decided to fly fish for.

The boys, Alex Gurr and Alex Hayde, elected to spin fish, meat hunting to bring back some incredible salmon fillets (you have no idea how good wild salmon tastes compared to our supermarket variety). The lure was savagely attacked every few casts and they quickly caught four of the five salmon per day the

I had started with my spey rod and, while not catching with the frequency of the boys, was attached to a fish on a regular basis; pink rabbit strips the fly of choice for the salmon, with the occasional deep red spawning sockeye attacking the lure as it swung through the lie. Because I was swinging flies, I was

restricted to the stream where there was enough current to work the fly.

The boys fished the bay, which required a different technique: the fly was cast as far out into the bay (double hauling required), allowed to sink, then stripped back as fast as possible. Alex G was on fire, at one point getting a hook-up on almost every cast — not that hooking a fish meant that you were

going to land it. An 8 - 15lb salmon with a whole lake to run around is hard work on a 7 weight and all that casting, just makes you tired.

Happiness is a state of mind and a good day’s fishing is my idea of happiness — that we had in spades. We returned to the lodge with limits and that feeling of tiredness that speaks of a good day’s fishing.

k

t

Issue 166 23

24 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

T

he need for a robust statutory management framework for the recreational fishing and dive charter industry has become urgent as the sector rapidly expands in multiple directions: a booming client base, increased effort and catch rates, growing competition within the sector, and heightened competition between the charter sector and other extractive users. Nothing highlights this issue as starkly as impacts at local levels, as observed around the Kaikoura Peninsula. Daryl Sykes takes the dilemma by the horns and wrestles with the thorny problems while offering a way forward, suggesting…

If it walks and talks like a duck… don’t duck responsibility Currently, there is no effective management of the charter industry because operators are not recognised as ‘fishing ‘entities’ for fisheries management purposes—only the recreational fishers and divers onboard are governed by management measures such as daily bag limits and minimum legal sizes.

The implication is that ONLY the ‘clients’ have responsibility or liability as recreational users.

Charter fishing and dive industry vessels currently: • Are not commercial fishing under the current Regulations in that they are deemed not to be taking fish for the purposes of sale.

• Are not recreational fishing as anticipated by the rule makers through the 1970’s and 1980’s, when the focus was on constraining the catch and effort of individuals operating independently, not collectively or in an assembly as found on charter vessels.

• Fall into a separate extractive use category with already observed and confirmed impacts on fisheries and fishing: localised depletion and evidence that aggregate catches are close to, or possibly even exceed, the current recreational allowances made for some stocks when Total Allowable Catches are set by Ministers.

• Are operating in a legislative and regulatory limbo, other than for passenger carrying obligations under Maritime NZ rules.

Time for new approach There is a way forward that can be of benefit to both fisheries and the charter fishing industry:

Charter industry commercially competitive The charter fishing industry is very competitive locally, marketing fishing success and competing with all extractive users for a share of the available yield, from which they make money.

The range and mobility of the charter fishing and dive fleet has greatly extended recreational fishing in regard to time, space, catches and landings, and species mixes that otherwise would not likely be available to individuals operating independently.

‘Lone Ranger’ no longer acceptable The charter fishing industry sector has no mandated or accountable sector representative organisation.

Individual operators are seen to be leveraging off that, both in the expansion of their businesses and their own interpretations of what they believe they are allowed to do under fisheries regulations.

The absence of a sector organisation which has an agreed strategic plan and some ability to sanction the constituent membership is no longer acceptable. The fisheries management regime expects attribution and accountability across a range of issues from all extractive users.

Fishing for recreation or sustenance – or something else further down the line?

Amateur fishing or industrial fishing?

We then have the sector acknowledge that within all other natural resource use settings, commercial enterprises must have a license or concession—DoC arrangements provide relevant examples. ‘Taxi drivers’ pay a fee to DoC for their passengers to observe seabirds and marine mammals - something that passengers would not pay to DoC if they were sightseeing in their own vessels.

When defining the recreational charter and dive fishing industry, we remove all references to and all reliance on amateur daily bag limits.

Let the charter vessel operators determine the client allowances commensurate with the allowance made to the charter vessel. Charter clients could legally retain less or more than the individual amateur daily bag limit.

They will be paying to do so, and they will be accountable for what they remove. See below.

Transition the charter fishing fleet to an ACE regime (Annual Catch Entitlements) – the first step is to allocate ACE for stocks on the basis of reported charter vessel catch histories over three most recent calendar years and draw down that allocation using a portion of the allowance already made for recreational fishing when setting TACs. ACE drawn from the recreational allowance will initially only be transferable between registered recreational fishing and dive charter vessels.

Over and above that initial allowance of a quantity of ACE, the incumbent charter fishing fleet can then acquire additional ACE from the commercial sector on the open market. New entrants to the charter fish and dive industry after transition date will either purchase an existing charter fish or dive business, or acquire ACE commensurate with their

All fish removed by clients at the conclusion of the charter fish or dive excursion will be balanced with ACE. (Hence allowing operators to determine the appropriate daily/trip limits for their charter vessels). That verifiable landing data will be of significant value to stock assessments and future TAC decisions.

We concurrently upgrade the mandatory record keeping and reporting requirements for the charter fishing industry fleet in a manner consistent with and compatible with mandatory ER/GPR reporting now required of the commercial fishing fleet.

And we progressively standardise all charter fishing industry activity to commercial regulations—for example, the minimum legal sizes (MLS) for species; gear restrictions, soak times etc., but allow a general exemption from minimum ACE holdings for QMS species such as rock lobster and paua. (Commercial fishermen require minimum ACE ownership before fishing/diving can commence).

We can smooth the transition to charter fleet management by allowing three to five fishing years to phase out the allocation of ACE derived from the allowance made for recreational fishing.

In Year 6 the recreational charter fishing industry will operate 100% in compliance with all Commercial Regulations—including being allowed to sell catches to Licensed Fish Receivers (LFRs) on condition that they are balanced by ACE. From Year 6 ACE is ACE is ACE and will be fully transferable between the commercial fishing fleet and the charter fishing and dive industry.

The allowance made in the TAC for the individual bona fide amateur user will be based on the best available information and will not be available for use by the charter fishing and dive industry, nor be tradable across to the commercial sector for the time being.

Advantages for the fisheries and for the charter sector The Charter Fishing Industry will have much greater security and certainty, dependent upon their willingness and ability to acquire ACE—not as they do now, at the direct or indirect expense of the recreational fishing community having their sector allowance diminished for commercial gain.

N:B Both images were lifted from recreational charter fishing pages on Facebook within the past three months

intended business plan.

The transition to a managed sector starts with a formal register of the incumbent operators and by defining the recreational charter fishing industry for what it is—a commercial enterprise.

The new regime also sets up the charter fishing industry for more complete and secure operating conditions, which will add value to future sales of the charter fishing businesses. Having a properly defined ‘identity’ with a management framework that enables expansion and growth, consolidation

and choice within a sustainable management framework must be preferable than relying on scraps whilst operating on the fringes and boundaries of commercial and recreational fishing.

The role for Government in this situation is to enable and facilitate the regulatory framework and administrative procedures to allow established charter fishing industry operators to transition to their proper place within the rights-based regime that underpins fisheries management in New Zealand.

Issue 166 25

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The Fishing Paper & Hunting News is published by Coastal Media Ltd. All editorial copy and photographs are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions or comments expressed within this publication are not necessarily those of the staff, management or directors of Coastal Media Ltd. Unsolicited editorial, letters, photographs will only be returned if you include a stamped self addressed envelope.

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26 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

COOKING with CRIMPY

Wild Duck Satay

2 wild ducks Duck fat Salt & pepper Satay Sauce 3 – 4 tbsp smooth peanut butter ½ onion finely diced 1 tsp crushed garlic 2 tsp crushed ginger 1 tsp crushed chilli Pinch salt 165g tin coconut cream 165 ml water 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander Fillet ducks by cutting either side of breastbone and carefully removing breasts and legs from carcass. Cut into quarters.

Heat 2 tbsp duck fat in saucepan over medium to high heat. Cook the meat side of each portion for 2 – 3 minutes or until coloured.

Remove to grill rack skin side up. Place under grill and cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the skin is crispy. Cook breast meat until pink, but cook legs for another 2 – 3 minutes.

Serve on fluffy rice with satay sauce.

Satay Sauce Heat oil over a medium heat and sweat onions until soft and translucent.

Stir in garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Stir in peanut butter, season with salt and add water and coconut milk and reduce until thick and creamy.

Remove from heat. Stir in fresh coriander and serve with grilled duck.

From Sinker to Smoker Cooking the catch Ron Prestage

As one who aligns with the pot hunters rather than with the sport fishers when it comes to fishing, I have eaten a lot of fish in my time. Snapper would be the predominant plate species from West Coast surfcasting and Tasman Bay and Marlborough Sounds boat fishing.

Snapper cooked in Skipper’s Choice Tempura Batter is my usual go-to for filleted snapper. Delicious!

Large snapper cheeks are usually baked in the oven and backbones are fried in the pan like a flounder. Big snapper often have bulbous backbones precluding a close fillet, leaving a lot of meat on

Cooking the Catch Arrange ingredients on rectangle of tinfoil.

the bone too good to waste.

Sometimes I simply fry the lightly-floured snapper fillet in a butter and light olive oil mix but feel the battered snapper seems to retain its flavour and moisture better.

If I want a real change from the fry-ups, I will oven bake a mix of snapper, tomato, red onion, lemon juice, salt and pepper and butter in a tinfoil pocket. About 20 minutes at 185 degrees does the trick.

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Issue 166 27

Keeping Fiordland—Fiordland While arguably a natural wonder of the world, Fiordland is also a modern paradox. This remote wilderness and untamed coastline, chiseled by the slow grind of ancient glaciers, has stood resolute for millennia, but a blink in time has revealed a certain fragility. Could Fiordland’s very appeal be its Achilles Heel?

This primordial landscape has become such a major drawcard for the tourist, adventurist, sailor, boatie, commercial and recreational fisher, diver, and hunter over recent times, remoteness no longer guarantees its protection. Modern technology has rendered it extremely accessible on so many levels, that it has become a significant recreational playground.

And rightly so, because it is a natural asset that we should all be able to enjoy. But herein lies the irony or paradox: the thing we seek most from Fiordland may be what we destroy: solitude, tranquility, isolation, pristine wilderness, undisturbed nature, and abundant seafood. Historically we don’t have a good track record of managing our resources into abundance and it can’t be argued that ‘new’ areas don’t suffer from ‘gold rush fatigue’.

Because of its relative ‘pristine’ nature, Fiordland is susceptible to many invasive elements; a good analogy would be a healthy indigenous people being decimated by the common cold upon interaction with new civilisations.

With so much activity now being focused in and around Fiordland, the risk of detrimental impact is so much greater than in past decades, so guardianship of this national treasure is a priority, and has been for some time.

Daryl Crimp Today, the Fiordland Marine Guardians collectively represent commercial and recreational fishers, tourism interests, recreational users, marine science, conservation, and the local community, supporting the ethic of Kaitiakitanga or stewardship. They advise government, make recommendations on management measures, promote information sharing, assess impact of activities or threats to the area, and help monitor the health of the area

the designation of other fragile areas as ‘china shops’.

Commercial fishers volunteered from fishing the inner fiords and recreational fishers agreed to stringent fishing rules in some areas.

The strategy was passed into legislation and the Fiordland Marine Guardians was formally established as an advisory group under the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Management Act 2005.

Meet the guardians

Dr Rebecca McLeod (Chair) PhD

Mark Peychers—Guardian since

Marine Science—Guardian since

1995. Commercial fisher for 30

2012. A science advisor with

years, shareholding director of

extensive knowledge of Fiordland,

Fiordland Lobster Company, and

experience advising New Zealand’s

is actively involved with fisheries

Antarctic Science Programme. A

management throughout New

keen recreational diver and boatie.

Jerry Excell—Guardian since 2007.

Peter Young—Guardian since 2018.

Zealand.

Dr Kerri-Anne Edge Hill—Guardian since 2015. PhD in Zoology. A strategic planner, writer, and outreach specialist running her own business from Te Anau. Kerri-Anne has 22 years experience in applied conservation ecology and is an enthusiastic tramper and sea kayaker.

Jonathan Clow—Guardian since 2012. Lives in Te Anau and has lifelong involvement with sea: recreational fisher, the fishing industry, Royal NZ Navy, and as former marine manager for Real Journeys, a Fiordland tourism company.

Stewart Bull—Guardian since 1995.

Representative of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Has a deep knowledge and understanding of the customary use of Fiordland, particularly customary fishing. Appointed a tangata taki by Minister of Fisheries in recognition of his local expertise.

Ali Ballatine Timms—Guardian since 2018. Passionate advocate for Fiordland since the 80s. During her tenure as Environment Southland Chairman and Councillor, she advocated for the formation of the Guardians and prioritised biosecurity threats, which resulted in the initiation of the Fiordland Marine Pathways Plan.

Pete has worked on boats since he was 15-years-old. He lives in Te Anau and works in the fiords as a commercial fisher and skipper for charter vessels. He is also a very keen recreational fisher and hunter.

Impacts were noticed as far back as the late 80s and, in 1995, Guardians of Fiordland Fisheries was formed with the aim to maintain and improve Fiordland’s marine environment and fisheries, including the wider fishery experience, for future generations to use and enjoy. Members included representatives of Ngāi Tahu iwi, commercial fishers, recreational fishers, and charter boat operators. The group then broadened its approach to encompass the whole marine environment, which enabled them to consider threats such as marine pests, fragile areas, and overfishing.

Marine science and environmental representatives joined the Guardians and DoC, Environment Southland, and the Ministry for the Environment joined the agency advisory group with MPI. The group was then tasked with creating a conservation strategy that required all parties to make concessions to ensure sustainable management into the future. This became known as ‘gifts and gains’, which saw the introduction of eight marine reserves and

Dived throughout Fiordland since childhood and now commercial lobster fisher, directing family fishing and quota owning company from Doubtful Sound. Has valued knowledge base of Fiordland.

Let’s look after this incredible place so future generations can enjoy it too We encourage you to fish for a feed, not for the freezer.

As a group, we’re responsible for managing and caring for Fiordland’s precious marine environment.

Before you set off, make sure you know the “where, what and how” about fishing in Fiordland. Clean your vessel and gear so you don’t take any unwanted visitors with you.

Connect with us at FMG.org.nz

Photo courtesy of Jon Clow, Guardian

28 THE FISHING PAPER & HUNTING NEWS - JULY 2019

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