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Pelagic trawl filled with southern blue whiting. (Copyright: FIS)
Southern blue whiting quota increased
(NEW ZEALAND, 3/21/2014)
The Deepwater Group has welcomed the Minister for Primary Industries’ decision to raise the catch limit in the main southern blue whiting fishery near Campbell Island from 30,000 tonnes to 40,0000 tonnes.
“This is the main southern blue whiting fishery and the very healthy state of the stock means that we can continue to harvest sustainably from it into the future,” says George Clement, Chief Executive of Deepwater Group which is an alliance of quota owners in New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries.
The decision comes after the Ministry for Primary Industries’ 2014 stock assessment, which confirmed this southern blue whiting stock is healthy and continues to increase in size.
“The decision to increase the catch limit is based on reliable and independent science which gives confidence that we can increase the sustainable harvest level,” said Clement.
In addition, rather than wait another three years for the next survey of southern blue whiting stocks, the Ministry and industry will undertake the next survey in 2015 to confirm the state of the stocks.
Clement highlighted that the southern blue whiting fishery fleet also recognises the importance of minimising environmental impacts, particularly in relation to New Zealand sea lions which breed on Campbell Island.
He said industry has adopted additional measures to reduce sea lion captures and that these had been supported in an independent review by global experts in sustainability.
The measures in place include: real-time monitoring and responses, minimising the time nets are on or near to the surface, management of offal discharges, deployment of Sea Lion Exclusion Devices (SLEDs), and independent observers on all vessels.
“In 2012 there were no captures, but we faced a real challenge in 2013 when hungry males turned up in numbers. Our objective is zero captures. We monitor the fishery daily and, when large numbers of sea lions turned up to feed off our nets in 2013, everyone involved worked together to minimise captures. All vessels in the fishery carry Ministry for Primary Industries’ observers and their feedback is invaluable on how we can avoid these unwelcome interactions,” he said.
editorial@seafood.media
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