Evolution of an Industry

Fishing has been a beloved Kiwi pastime for generations and we love our kai moana dearly. For Chatham Islanders, fishing is so much more; it is their lifeblood, a food source and an industry that literally put the Islands on the map and that in some ways helped to define the relationship between the Islands and the mainland. While fishing is important to New Zealand’s economy, it is not essential; the same cannot be said of the Chatham Islands, where it is a mainstay of employment and the foibles of a changing industry have direct impacts on nearly every Chatham Islander.

Given its geographic location 800 kilometres east of New Zealand and close to a subtropical convergence zone that is teeming with sea life, it’s no wonder that fishing has been so prevalent on the Chathams. The Chatham Rise is considered our richest fishery, something that both Moriori and Māori knew only too well, but it was not until the New Zealand government chartered a steam trawler, the Nora Niven, in 1907 to prospect for fishing grounds off the east coast that harvesting sea food on an industrial scale was considered. The Islands had seen a whaling boom, but by the early 1900s that was over and the difficulty in making farming economically viable meant fishing seemed very attractive. By 1910, fish freezing plants had been established and a fleet of small boats began supplying them with blue cod and groper. This fledgling industry would grow steadily until the Great Depression, though even throughout those difficult days fishing continued to sustain the Islands, and by the early 1930s there were 18 boats working their waters.

But it was not cod or groper that thrust the Chatham Islands fishing industry into overdrive; instead it was crayfish. Known internationally as rock lobster, the ability to export frozen crayfish tails saw global demand skyrocket in the 1950s and 60s. While cod remained the main catch on the Chathams in 1964, by 1968 nearly 6000 tonnes of crayfish was being exported from the Chathams, mostly to the United States; the so-called ‘crayfish boom’ was underway, and it was not to be all plain sailing.

For while the boom brought welcomed income to the Islands, it also brought outsiders who were quick to try and get in on the gold rush and not particularly sympathetic to Island life; for Chatham Islanders, fishing was a livelihood, not a get rich quick scheme. There was also the feeling that while the mainland was happy to access the resources of the Chathams, Wellington was less eager to invest in Chathams infrastructure like roading and wharves.

In historian Michael King and photographer Robin Morrison’s A Land Apart: The Chatham Islands of New Zealand, the author notes that ‘the crayfish boom from the late 1960s until the early 1970s turned out to be the most disruptive, frenetic and dangerous period in the Chatham Islands’ history. It was lucrative too, but ultimately not for the Islanders. In this respect it was a repeat of the experience of the sealing and whaling eras.

This sounds extreme, but the boom was a pivotal period in Chathams history. It is not unheard of for people there to refer to times past as BCBefore Crayfishing.

In the end, the crayfish boom proved to be its own worst enemy. By the early 1970s stocks were beginning to be fished out and environmental concerns were being raised, so much so that quotas and conservation became hotly debated issues in the 1972 general election. Quotas would be introduced, but by then the damage was done and the boom was over. Soon farming would once again take its place as the mainstay of the Chatham Islands’ economy.

Which is not to say that fishing has ceased there. Far from it. Instead, the Islands’ fishing industry has embraced more modern, sustainable practices. The fishers have come up with ways - often above and beyond government regulations - to help the various marine species they catch thrive both today and tomorrow. There are restrictions on catch and size limits, more selective fishing methods so as to avoid catching other species, and reef by reef shellfish management to ensure an accurate picture of fish and shellfish stocks can be determined.

So, while it may have been a rocky road for the Chathams Islands fishing industry to get to this point, it’s good to know the fire is in safe hands. And one of the best things is that they deliver to the mainland!

Air Chathams is proud to be a part of this, and has been for decades, with our trusty Convair 580 ZK-CIB carrying passengers and seafood freight from the Islands since the 1980s. These days that precious cargo is carried by our flagship ATR-72, which flies almost 1000 tonnes of seafood off the Chathams every year. Chief Operating Officer Duane Emeny says the seafood industry is an important contributor to the Chathams economy and the family owned and operated airline recognises the importance of connecting the Islands with the mainland and international markets. “We’re the flying Countdown order,” Duane says, “we fly everything. We are the Chatham Islands fishing Industry’s State Highway. And long may it last!”