Oceans and Fisheries Minister Hon Shane Jones has extended the closed season for blue cod in the Marlborough Sounds which will now run from 1 September to 10 January each year. This is a first step, with additional measures to address depletion of the blue cod stock still under consideration.
“It’s great to see the Minister taking positive action to address the depleted state of blue cod in the Marlborough Sounds,” says Environmental Defence Society Policy Director Raewyn Peart.
“The closed season extension should reduce direct targeting of blue cod over the Christmas holiday period. However, fishing for other species will still be allowed, and it is concerning that the bag limit of 20 fish per day has not been reduced given this is a mixed species fishery.
“The likely outcome is that many blue cod will be inadvertently hooked and then discarded while a fisher is trying to catch the bag limit of other fish. Blue cod are easily caught on a line, with charter fishing vessels reporting that five undersized cod are typically caught for every legal sized cod retained. The returned fish have a low survival rate.
“Furthermore, from the work we undertook for our oceans reform case study on the Marlborough Sounds, it is clear that loss of complex seafloor habitat has negatively impacted the productivity of the blue cod stock in the Sounds. This is due to trawling and dredging impacts along with sedimentation. In turn, there are less large blue cod to predate on kina which has contributed to the loss of kelp forests and seaweed beds which kina eat.
“The upshot is that all these fisheries are interconnected, and managing them on an individual species basis does not make sense, and is unlikely to work. What is needed is a more holistic approach which could be achieved through the development of a Marlborough Sounds Fisheries Plan.
“Such an integrated plan could develop harvest control measures that make sense across all stocks in the Sounds, as well as identify spatial protections and active restoration measures that will boost overall productivity and recruitment within the area.
“EDS urges the Minister to initiate the development of a Marlborough Sounds Fisheries Plan without delay,” concluded Ms Peart.
Read the Marlborough Sounds Oceans Case Study here