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Fisheries information and guidelines

Fiordland’s fisheries need your help

Fishing is one of New Zealand’s most popular recreational activities. Every year growing numbers of fishers are visiting Fiordland to experience and enjoy the unique fishing and diving opportunities available. The increase in fishing and harvest pressure on some of our most popular finfish, rock lobster and shellfish species is an unfortunate consequence. Fishing pressure within the most accessible fiords has led to fish numbers in those areas being depleted. This is largely due to the fact that despite the relatively large area of Fiordland, the most productive places within the inner fiord environment are confined to a narrow strip of shallow reef (<40 m) around the perimeter of the fiords. This relatively small habitat area inside the fiords creates a situation where fishing effects can be greater than expected and must be carefully managed.

The present Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) recreational fishers to take greater responsibility to help conserve the area’s valuable fisheries and to look after the unique marine environment.

The fiord entrances and outer coastal marine area of Fiordland offer better fishing opportunities compared to the inner fiords, which contain less suitable habitat for sustaining good populations of fish. Where conditions allow, the coastal area is where fishers should endeavour to take their catches from.

If commercial fishers are operating in the area, ask them for advice as to the best area to fish. These people have good local knowledge – many of them will have spent in excess of 30 years in the area. Commercial fishers in this area are generally receptive, friendly, and an invaluable source of information.

This section sets out some guidelines for recreational fishing in general. This is followed by detailed information about specific fishing limits and other restrictions in the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua) Marine Area.

Recreational fishing in general

‘Fish for a feed’

As a general guide to recreational fishing, here are some tips to help with the ‘fish for a feed’ philosophy promoted by the Guardians:

• ‘fish for a feed’; take only what you need for yourself and your family
• fish in the outer fiords whenever you can; they are more productive
• avoid anchoring when fishing
• do not set gear you can’t retrieve
• use the right method to catch the right fish
• use size 6/0 Kahle¹ or larger size fish hooks when fishing for blue cod
• return undersize fish quickly and carefully to the sea
• take no more baitfish than you will use, and make sure they are legal size
• treat what you catch humanely
• always grasp a rock lobster by its body, not its legs or feelers
• leave any egg-carrying and soft-shell rock lobster alone when diving and return them quickly to the sea when lobster-potting
• leave undersized paua alone; they can bleed to death if their foot is damaged.

See also: ‘General guidelines for handling fish’, ‘Blue cod fishing guidelines’, ‘Guidelines for gathering paua’, and the ‘Rock lobster (Crayfish) limits’ section.

 

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¹ Kahle is a type of wide-gap hook. 6/0 refers to the size.

 

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