Newslines
bluewatermag.com.au 21Tagged
swordfish
recaptured
in New
Zealand
Back on April 15, 2016 the team
of Brian Gray and Andrew Hope
spent the day targeting broadbill
swordfish off Whakatane on the
east coast of New Zealand’s North
Island. It was a perfect day with
no wind, making drifting in a
trailerboat very comfortable.
Andrew hooked-up on their first
drop to the depths, and before long
they had a shot at the leader, but
pulled the hook. Their second drop
produced a hook-up for Brian, but this
sword was also lost close to the boat
when the bill-wrap slipped off. Their
next four drops were fruitless, but
late in the afternoon, on the last drop
of the day, they came up tight again.
Brian was on the rod and within 90
minutes the fish was close enough for
Andrew to reach out for the leader.
The fish was still reasonably frisky
and presented quite a handful on the
leader, but Brian took the tag shot
and the estimated 100kg fish was
soon sent on its way.
Nearly two years later, on March
6, 2018, they received notification
that the fish had been recaptured
by a tuna longline vessel less
than 50nm from where we had
released it 656 days earlier. At
that time it was estimated to
weigh 115kg. Data from satellite-
tagged swordfish suggests that
this individual probably travelled to
subtropical waters and back twice in
that time to breed.
The recapture of tagged swordfish
in New Zealand waters is a very rare
and special occurrence, with only a
small handful of fish yet recaptured.
However, each recapture provides
crucial insights into their behaviour
and movements, so let’s hope that
more these magnificent fish are
tagged this season.Seabin is a floating rubbish collection device designed to reduce pollution in our
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Seabin was conceived by Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, two Aussies who’s love of
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The device is now being used in marinas throughout the world, particularly in Europe,
but the team have returned to Australia to launch their new global head-office. They
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To learn more about Seabin, visit
http://seabinproject.com, and to see
the Seabin in action, visit: https://
youtu.be/tiy7WQYQyhY
This swordfish, tagged and released
by Brian Gray and Andrew Hope off
Whakatane, on New Zealand’s North
Island, was recaptured by a longliner 656
days later.Seabin: automatically cleans
waterways
An Australian invention,
Seabin is an automatic,
floating garbage collection
device designed to remove
plastic, cigarette butts and
other harmful debris from
marinas and waterways.