82 Boating New Zealand
BOATINGNZ.CO.NZTHE CATCH Do you have a product or story you would like John to follow
up? Contact him at: [email protected]“Te QMS [Quota Management System] is allowing
industrial fshing to take place without efective governance
from the ministry that is charged with managing marine
resources on behalf of all New Zealanders,” said Macindoe.
“Instead, the MPI [Ministry of Primary Industries]
has stood back while the fshery has declined to the stage
where even experienced divers struggle to fnd even one
legal crayfsh.”
Recreational fshers in CRA2 want action, says Macindoe.
Indeed, many recreational fshers want a total overhaul of
the Quota Management System and are clamouring for new
ways to oversee New Zealand’s fsheries.
“Tis isn’t about recreational and customary rights versus
commercial rights. It’s about ensuring sustainability and
healthy ecosystems taking priority, and it’s about protecting
the resource for future generations,” Macindoe said.
LegaSea is repeating its call for a Commission of Inquiry
into the state of fsheries management in New Zealand and
urging New Zealanders to let them know what they would
like to see happen. BNZ
The public can respond at http://www.legasea.co.nz/crayfishcrisis/Unsustainable levels of harvesting may be only part of the problem.
Whereas on the Wairarapa coast, for instance, crayfish larvae can
be found every year, in the Gulf they seem to come in pulses every
six - seven years, so recruitment is relatively poor, and with crayfish
numbers as low as they are, the population could crash.
Declining crayfish numbers have also been linked to changes
in the undersea ecology of the Gulf, particularly the disappearance
of kelp forests due to siltation, increased nutrient loads through
agricultural and urban run-of and overgrazing by sea urchins (kina).
Silt smothers kelp forests, eventually killing them and suspended
sediment in the water reduces the amount of sunlight available to
the kelp, afecting its viability. Kina graze on kelp.
Crayfish need kelp. Kelp forests provide cover from predators for
both juveniles and adults, as well as habitat for the animals they feed
on. Without kelp forests, crayfish larvae have nowhere safe to settle,
afecting recruitment.
Crayfish and snapper are apex reef predators. Larger examples of
both species, but particularly snapper, prey on kina, keeping urchin
numbers in check. But most of the large snapper in the Hauraki
Gulf have disappeared, allowing kina to proliferate, a problem
exacerbated further by the removal of crayfish.
Kina are eating their way through the Gulf’s kelp forests, leaving
behind the ‘kina barrens’ that are now so common. And since kina
barrens are not suitable habitat for adult crayfish – and juvenile crays
won’t settle on them – there are fewer places for crayfish to live.
Add to this pressure from ongoing commercial and recreational
harvesting and it’s clear the Gulf’s crayfish are caught up in a
downward spiral.CHANGING ECOLOGY IN THE GULF