Hooked up - Issue 7

HOOKED up ISSUE 7 2016

Billfish Symposium Report

Houhora BGSFC Tournament Profile

Hiwi the Kiwi

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

New Zealand Sport Fishing Council is the one of the longest serving incorporated organisations representing recreational anglers.

The NZSFC was formed around the IGFA fishing rules and ethics so that a consistent standard could be set when comparing catches.

The NZSFC offers additional records classes for New Zealand records beyond what IGFA offer for juniors and small-fry anglers. We have refined some of the IGFA rules to make them more suitable for our contests.

Our New Zealand based IGFA representatives keep a close liaison between IGFA and NZSFC and have regular input into issues that could affect New Zealand anglers. We have promoted valuable marine research that is internationally respected. This includes the game fish tagging programs for Marlin, sharks, Tuna and kingfish which now has a history of 17 years of information.

The Council created and continues to support the NZ Marine Research Foundation (NZMRF) for the primary purpose of conducting research on fish species benefiting our membership that could not, or will not be financed by government agencies.

Information from research carried out by the NZMRF has been very valuable when justifying our position in species management. All they have to do is remind themselves, that the majority of what the NZSFC does is for the benefit of individual members rather than equal benefits for each club.

More fish in the sea, better access, water quality, individual legal protection, record recognition, research, advocacy, fishing data collection and dissemination are all individual benefits of belonging to the NZSFC.

2 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

CONTENTS Editorial........................................................4 Executive Profile: Lewis Avenell.....................6

EDITOR / Dave Lockwood GROUP EDITOR / Colin Kennedy ART

Executive Officer Quarterly Report..............8

DIRECTOR / Jodi Olsson CONTENT ENQUIRIES /

Weighmaster Roundup ....................................12 Hiwi the Kiwi................................................16 Billfish Symposium Report..........................18 Fisheries Management Update....................22

Phone Dave on 021 177 1705 or email secretary@nzsportfishing.org.nz ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES / Phone Jennifer Liew on 0274 398 100 or email jenniferl@espiremedia.com WEBSITE / www.NZsportfishing.co.nz

Legasea Update ............................................26 NZMRF....................................................28 Club Profile ...................................................30 Houhora BGSFC Tournament Profile..........34 ITM’s Biggest Building Project Ever!............36 Angler Article ..............................................38

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 3

EDITORIAL

hank you to the Whangamata

conference allows for insightful, no-

Ocean Sports Club team for

nonsense analysis and resolution of

your outstanding hospitality

matters. We were delighted to make

at our 59th AGM in September. Sandra,

Sauce (Pete) Saunders a Life Member.

Kevin, Roy and Barney and Pauline, you

New Plymouth have been well served for

certainly lived up to your promise of

many years Sauce. Thank you for your

‘going the extra mile’. The delegates, their

unfailing good humour and generosity.

partners and I are truly grateful for the

Grant Dixon and Grant Blair are

efforts made on our behalf.

appreciated. Their attendance and

The AGM and Conference went

ongoing staunch support through the

smoothly. The depth and breadth of

magazine and the internet is so valuable.

experience that our delegates bring to

The Minstrel offered us an excellent

4 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

insight of the Hiwi the Kiwi program.

Delegates appreciated the intimacy and sheer delight that their show delivers.

We were pleased to hear Chris Boyle, Marketing Manager for ITM, outline details of an exciting partnership and sponsorship program for ITM with Council and LegaSea. In 2017 ITM will team up with Simrad as sponsors for the Nationals. Alongside this, the LegaSea team are working on a comprehensive partnership arrangement with planning underway for clubs to team up with ITM businesses. We appreciate this endorsement and support ITM.

A big thank you to all of the speakers who offered such informative presentations.

No commentary could be complete without reference to the tucker. Barney and Pauline spoilt us all on Friday night.

And then the banquet on Saturday night. So much effort by club members to gather and present the finest local delicacies.

Phil Appleyard President New Zealand Sport Fishing Council Inc Mobile: 027 273 0500 www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 5

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Lewis Avenell Zone 6 Delegate

s a child growing up, School holidays consisted of begging to my parents to spend time on my grandparent’s farm in the Wharehine district of the Kaipara Harbour. Summer days were spent looking at the trees and telling my dad it was fine to go fishing because the wind had dropped for five seconds.

During University in Auckland, a good friend of mine brought a Sea Nymph V13 and we spent many days learning the art of soft baiting in the Hauraki Gulf. In my mid 20’s, I got my first real taste of game fishing. It just coincided that it was the day after my work Xmas function, two family 50th’s and the neighbour’s 40th birthday parties.

Needless to say, I was happy I was not the driver of the boat at 3 am.

A quiet day was broken in the afternoon by a Marlin Head popping out of the water on the Port corner; all I could do was point and say “FISH FISH!”. Since then, Gamefish and particularly Marlin have been my primary objective in fishing.

To date, I have captured eight Striped 6 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Marlin (two Weighed, six tagged).

Many of which have been on the 1970’s Launch ‘Poseidon’ Skippered by a good friend Tony Gyde.

I am currently sitting my second term on the Board of the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council representing Zone 6 (Taranaki & Waikato) and a delegate for the New Plymouth Sport fishing and Underwater Club (NPSUC). I have been forTunate enough to be included on to the Fisheries Management & Marine Protection Committee for the past year as well as recently being added to the LegaSea Governance Committee.

Regularly I am referred to as the ‘young blood’, but at 31 I don’t always feel like it. I urge anyone younger to take this title away from me. If you have any interest in fisheries management, you will not get a better team to expand your knowledge.

You may find me fishing out of my newly renovated 13ft2 Skipjack Condorcraft ‘LICKINDIP’ down at the bottom end of Waiheke. I would advise keeping your distance as Snapper fishing is not my forte.◆

WE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT

PROMOTING F IS H IN G R E S E A R C H FOR FU T U R E A N G L IN G . www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 7

FROM THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER

EXECUTIVE OFFICER QUARTERLY REPORT

By Dave Lockwood, Executive Officer, New Zealand Sport Fishing Council

he Whangamata Ocean Sports Club hosted another successful AGM. Most would agree that the local club did a fantastic job with the event, at what could be described as one of the best locations for a fishing club in the country. The format at the annual two-day meeting was changed from previous years where all Notice of Motion, Bylaw and Policy Changes were addressed on the Friday. The following day was less taxing with a mixture of reports spoken to, and guest speakers addressing the Council Delegates.

One of the key discussions was on braid. The Braid discussion resulted in changes to the constitution, fishing 8 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

rules and bylaws. The topic had been agended for discussion at the IGFA Summit. It was important that the Council had an understanding of what the IGFA intentions were prior to reviewing our use of braid as a backing. In the event of no change from the IGFA , the NZSFC will still adopt our recommended changes starting from July 1, 2017.

The Definition of when a fish is caught, which was keenly debated in 2015, has now been adopted in 2016. Some subtle changes to the Bylaw include that the leader if used ‘should be’ in hand, as opposed to ‘must be’ in hand.

Once again Tag Pole length was on the agenda for discussion. A recommendation from Zone One to allow skippers to choose the length of their tag pole was not carried. Valid arguments from opposing views were keenly discussed, and the vote to change the policy only missed out by a whisker!

A notice of motion from John Chibnall to increase the member donation to the New Zealand Marine Research Foundation was adopted and will take effect from the 2017/18 financial year. The senior donation will increase from $1 to $2, and the junior donation from 50c to $1.

Coming up in November, the Board will be attending a Governance Training workshop in Auckland.

This is going to greatly assist the organisation in developing a more strategic approach to the Council.

We have purposely allocated 13 extra spots to Club Board/Committee members. It is important that we not only develop our own capability, but also the capability of our member clubs. If successful, we will look to roll the Governance Training out regionally to the Zones in future years.

Another big project on the horizon is the planned new website. This should be in operation next year. We are going to build in software that will give the Clubs opportunity to utilise. For example, for competitions and records, anglers will be able

to utilise electronic Catch/Tag Cards that will greatly reduce the amount of administration time to submit catch records. The plan is to have this in place for the 2018 Nationals and available for Clubs to use at the own events.

It is not long before the Nationals roll around again. While the 2016 Nationals were very successful, with our second highest participation numbers on record, we are still a long way short of where we could potentially be in competing numbers.

Less than 5% of our membership fish the Nationals. For 2017 we are going to increase our promotion budget for the Nationals and target new Anglers for the event.

Working with NZ Fishing News, we will run some lead-up articles in advance to target new anglers. Paul Batten is working on a ‘How to fish the Nationals’ guide that will also target new anglers to the event. At this year’s event, we successfully trialled Clubs inputting Catch data into the Nationals software. The more Clubs inputting results will significantly reduce the lag time getting results out. Hopefully, in 2017, more Clubs will take up the challenge. ◆

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 9

WEIGHMASTER ROUNDUP

Farewell Kelvin Zone 1 Rep.

ZSFC E-Zine Issue 7, whew where does the time go?

It seems we have just got through our club meetings, AGM’s and the NZSFC AGM daylight savings is upon us, Labor Weekend is just around the corner which implies big Albacore and the first Yellowfin Tuna should also be getting closer.

Fishing tackle is being checked, rigged and re-rigged with all the new styles and systems we have read about online and off. Fishing boats are being slipped and given the once over twice in anticipation of the second Striped Marlin turning up at a weigh station near you.

At the recent NZSFC AGM hosted at the Whangamata Ocean Sports Club, 10 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

the executive and delegates along with the invited Guests had a great time socialising after hours within the club and at Barney and Pauline O’Neil’s place, in Barney’s man cave no less. Although Barney was less worried about his cars when he heard the ladies wanted to have a clay bird shoot on Saturday voicing, I hope my avocados will be safe.

The Board said farewell to Zone 1 representative Kelvin Mowat who has retired and replace with newcomer Brenda Saul from the Whangarei Deep Sea Anglers Club and to ‘Wazza’, Warren Harris from Zone 3 who also retired and replaced with another new face Warren Maher; there were no other changes in personal.

AGM delegates at work

NPSUC PRIZEGIVING Great night to celebrate a wonderful 2015/16 season. More than 370 Marlin caught and many long-term dreams realised and the best part

is that everyone had a great time during the season and everyone has their story. Well done to all the winners tonight and just as importantly, well done to everyone that enjoyed the season.

NP trophies

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 11

WEIGHMASTER ROUNDUP NEW LIFE MEMBER

Debbie Bunn Trevally trophy

A Life Member nomination was received for Peter Saunders from the New Plymouth Sport Fishing and Underwater Club. This nomination had been ratified by the Council at the previous board meeting. Ian Steele gave an account of Pete’s service to his Club, Zone and the Council as a delegate. It was moved the nomination for Peter Saunders for Life Membership be accepted.

Also at the Houhora Big Game & Sportfishing Club’s AGM and prizegiving, long-time club supporter and ‘Mrs. Get it done’, Debbie Bunn was awarded life membership. She also received the Trevally Dundee Bill Imms Memorial Trophy; Heaviest Trevally Debbie Bunn 3.72kg.

President Justan give flowers to D Bunn Life member HH

HOUHORA Congratulations to Donna Pascoe and the ‘Gladiator’ team. The 2106 SIMRAD NZSFC Nationals really set the load or trophies up for the ‘Gladiator team’, Donna’s haul of trophies required a separate table. Thank you to Brad & Matt for accepting the awards.

It is really great to see younger anglers from the next generation out there catching fish and winning trophies.

Cailee Stewart is showing Club Members how to catch fish. While out 12 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Gladiator trophy haul

of Ahipara with family on Renegade she lands the biggest Snapper of 8.05kg. Go the girls!

Cailee Stewart Snapper out from Ahipara

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 13

Shayde Flood who missed the prizegiving went out for his own presentation at Houhora

14 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Junior member Shayde Flood wasn’t able to make prizegiving, so he dropped by to have a photo with the trophies he won.

The Heaviest Kahawai trophy and Most Tagged & Released Gamefish.

Well done Shayde!

Finally, with plenty of fish still to catch, scientific research, species identification and satellite tagging, the Red October and Orokawa Tindale’s, Sue and Scott have made the dream a reality. Scott now has over 100 IGFA World Records as an angler. It is still a long way off

from Sue’s 150, but a milestone by world standards. Back in 2012, he racked up over 100 IGFA World Records as a captain and guide for Sue and a few friends, adding the husband and wife team to the exclusive group of IGFA lifetime achievement award recipients.

In Scott’s own words; ‘Now as I reflect on the adventures we have shared both in front of and behind the cameras, it humbles me to think we have also contributed to over 100 research and conservation projects.’ ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 15

HIWI THE KIWI

Hiwi the Kiwi 16 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

“

Earlier this year the program was delivered to its 1,000th school, Havelock North Primary. Over 330,000 school children have now seen the show, and on average, 50,000 school children get to see a Hiwi the Kiwi goes Fishing Show each year.

“

t the recent AGM in Whangamata, the Minstrel, Mark de Lacy gave an update on the Hiwi the Kiwi program. Hiwi the Kiwi goes fishing is now in its seventh year of delivery and has substantial reach across the country.

Earlier this year the program was delivered to its 1,000th school, Havelock North Primary. Over 330,000 school children have now seen the show, and on average, 50,000 school children get to see a Hiwi the Kiwi goes Fishing Show each year.

Many schools are also utilising the online and book resources to reinforce the key messages of Fish for our Future,

Boat Safety and Save our Seabirds.

Earlier this year Maritime NZ came to the party and funded the delivery of the program to 10 Decile One schools in Counties Manukau. Reaching the low decile schools is difficult, as they find it hard to finance the delivery of the show.

If any clubs are interested in funding the delivery of Shows in their region, they need to get in touch with the Minstrel to discuss. This is an excellent opportunity for Clubs to connect with local schools and potentially grow their junior membership.

To contact Mark either contact him by email, theminstrel@xtra.co.nz or on his mobile 027 255 5442. ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 17

FISHERIES RESEARCH

BILLFISH SYMPOSIUM REPORT Advances in Billfish Science international cooperation is needed Angling Rules & Regulations

By John Holdsworth

GENETIC AND TAGGING STUDIES

he 6th International Billfish Symposium was hosted at the International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) headquarters in Dania Beach Florida from 14-17 September 2016. This was a chance to catch up on the latest developments in billfish research and new technologies.

There was also discussion on raising the profile of billfish management at an international level through the regional fisheries management organisations.

18 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Advances in speed and affordability of genetic sequencing has increased the number of molecular markers that can be analysed to look for separate billfish populations within species.

They can also be used to identify close relatives and evolutionary history.

The four species of Spearfishes are the most recent evolutionary lineage which has been around for less than 1 million years. The Shortbill Spearfish from the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the three species of Spearfish from the Atlantic and Mediterranean are the least studied of all billfish due to their rarity.

There were record numbers of Shortbill Spearfish caught in New Zealand and Australia last summer.

Researchers have requested tissue samples from New Zealand caught Spearfish and Striped Marlin next season. This could be a fin clip from a tagged fish or piece of muscle, with length and sex information from landed fish. The distribution of separate spawning populations is important information for fisheries management.

There is a better understanding of environmental variables that influence billfish distribution.

Information from satellite tags, conventional tags and catch per unit effort has been matched with sea surface temperature, height and colour (chlorophyll content) collected by satellites. Also, the depth of low oxygen or low-temperature zones can limit the diving depths of Marlin and some prey species. This reduces the total volume of suitable habitat (habitat compression) which could increase vulnerability to longline gear or affect billfish migration. Some presentations suggested ways of using habitat information in future stock assessments. www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 19

The IGFA Great Marlin Race has successfully promoted the sponsorship and deployment of pop-up satellite archival tags at tournaments around the globe. There have been 238 billfish covering seven species tagged in 20 different countries over the last 5 years. Plans are underway to host an IGFA Great Marlin Race event in the Bay of Islands next year to increase the number of Striped Marlin tagged. Information from each tagged fish is available to the public on an interactive website and raw tag data are freely available to other researches.

IMPROVING RECREATIONAL FISHERIES The message from the experts like Mitch Roffer to recreational anglers looking for the best fishing opportunities is to head for the high current areas and sea surface temperature fronts. It is stable water mass boundaries that have 20 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

been proven to concentrate the fish.

My presentation highlighted the role sport fishers have had in monitoring and the management of Striped Marlin fisheries in New Zealand. While sport fishers don’t have much influence in international billfish management forums, they have had a strong voice in the management of Marlin in New Zealand for 40 years. During that time sport fishing clubs have forged a strong national organisation and supported conservation and research initiatives that help maintain and monitor the fishery.

Striped Marlin landed by sport fishers in New Zealand have provided important information and samples for length/ weight conversions, morphometric, genetic, and, more recently, stable isotope studies. Dorsal spine collections across a broad size range of Striped Marlin were used in a major ageing study. Conventional and satellite tagging has been successful because

of the participation and contribution of sport fishers. Age, growth and stock boundaries from tagging data are vital inputs for a regional stock assessment.

in the U.S., with an exception for traditional fisheries within Hawaii and the Pacific islands. This law ends U.S. importation of foreign-caught billfish.

The New Zealand club catch records of individual billfish at the weigh station are the best in the world. For 90 years we have an almost complete picture of recreational billfish catch through clubs that cover the main fishing ports. Small boat game fishers are more mobile and use a wider range of launch sites these days. The increase in popularity of this fishery is tremendous. New entrants to the fishery need to know that catch reporting are important, even if it is only an estimated weight and lower jaw to tail fork length.

It was interesting to hear that owners of private boats fishing for highly migratory species in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic are required to have a special HMS recreational fishing permit.

They also must report landing a billfish or Bluefin Tuna within 24 hours of capture on the government website or hotline. Almost all White Marlin and Blue Marlin are released, but Broadbill Swordfish are mostly landed. In Florida last year 283 Swordfish were reported by recreational fishers, but it is widely known that this is a fraction of what is actually caught. There is a thriving black market for Swordfish and thousands of private moorings and launch sites.

Over the year sport fishers in New Zealand have been proactive in facilitating billfish research, to both monitor stocks and ensure favourable management outcomes. Recently a much-needed study into the economic contribution of recreational fisheries was funded solely by sport fishers and business sponsors.

As we have seen in New Zealand, self-reporting by fishers (commercial or recreational) needs to be validated to be useful. The billfish research community is relatively small and friendly. Meetings like this help foster international cooperation on SPORT FISHING IN THE USA data collection and the exchange of Sport fishers and the IGFA ran the ideas. Papers from the Symposium Take Marlin Off the Menu campaign in will be published in a special the U.S., which eventually succeeded edition of the Journal of Marine in 2012 with the passage of The Science next year. The 7th Billfish Billfish Conservation Act, which Symposium will be in five years prohibits the sale of all species of time. A host and sponsors are most billfish (Swordfish are not included) likely to be found in the USA. â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz â—† 21

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT UPDATE

Fisheries Management SummaryFishing for Abundance

By Peter Campbell

FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ANNUAL REPORT The Fisheries Management Annual Report 2015-16 has been published.

It was available for delegates and attendees at the Whangamata AGM. Hard copies are available from Dave; please email him secretary@ nzsportfishing.org.nz. It is also online at https://goo.gl/zxoivx. The Fisheries Management - Marine Protection team welcome your feedback on the report and any suggestions you have for next year’s edition.

Special request: Please, we need new images for our publications, including the Annual Report. We particularly need fishing pictures, children, adults, the fish, the cockpit, the scene. If taking photos of people and their fish, please remember NO SUNGLASSES, as they do not project a good image for the person or our publication. Highest resolution possible image. Please email or call Trish if you want to discuss this further. trish@legasea.co.nz.

22 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

BILLFISH SYMPOSIUM A report by John Holdworth from the 6th Billfish Symposium is provided elsewhere in this magazine.

Snapper 1 MANAGEMENT PLAN PROCESS During September MPI held four public drop-in meetings and two iwi fisheries forum meetings to discuss the SNA1 Management Plan. John Holdsworth participated in the most popular meeting, with around 27 attendees, in Whangarei. The other public meetings were poorly attended (16 people total) and MPI is now reconsidering its approach to advertising and the concept of drop-in meetings.

The SNA1 plan was developed and discussed in 26 joint sector meetings between February 2014 and July 2016. The NZSFC was the major contributor to the plan development in terms of documents produced to inform discussions. A positive outcome has been the agreed stock

management target of 40% of unfished biomass, to be achieved by 2041. Also, an interim target of 30% of unfished biomass by 2025.

The team acknowledges the Plan is what it is, yet it could have been so much more useful in guiding future management and decisions. However, being a collaborative process meant that only agreed outcomes were included in the final plan. The team is considering the merits of a survey to the LegaSea database, or a wider survey of public opinion.

HAURAKI GULF SPATIAL PLAN Scott Macindoe has done his best to represent the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council in the Hauraki Gulf Spatial Planning process. The Working Group has settled on a plan that has now gone further up the foodchain for review before being sent to Wellington for ratification. Three Ministers, Nick Smith (Environment), Nathan Guy (MPI) and Maggie Barry (Conservation) will consider the Plan and make recommendations to their Cabinet colleagues.

Once again this was a collaborative process with a much broader participant base than the SNA1 plan. This wider input and need for broader agreement is reflected in the plan. From a fisheries management perspective, we are hopeful that the

decision makers will see merit in giving meaningful support to a separate Fisheries Management Area for the Hauraki Gulf. In our view, this is the most effective way to achieve the necessary catch reductions to rebuild abundance and restore productivity to the marine environment of the Gulf.

SUBMISSIONS Our team has made 15 submissions during 2016. The most recent Ministerial decisions were announced on September 8th and apply from 1 October 2016. a. Southern Scallops (SCA7) - NZSFC submission recommended the SCA7 fishery is closed to all fishing until abundance surveys indicate a surplus yield is available for harvest.

When the stock has recovered to an abundant level, the Minister ought to allow a staged resumption of scallop harvest, for non-commercial use then commercial use when more yield is available to sustain both non-commercial and commercial exploitation. http://goo.gl/qbxOCq Minister’s decision: On July 12th Nathan Guy announced the partial closure of the Scallop 7 fishery for the upcoming season. The closure applies from 15 July and finishes on 14 February 2017 www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 23

b. Jack Mackerel 3 – NZSFC submission recommended the Minister decrease the current Total Allowable Catch (TAC) to cover existing use only. That meant halving the Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) and establishing allowances for other fishing-related mortality and noncommercial use, both recreational and customary. In the submission, we noted the importance of jack mackerel in the food chain, between plankton and larger predators, given that pilchard and anchovy are less common in southern waters.

Minister’s decision: The Minister reduced the TACC by 49%, no effort has been made to split the species so more targeted management can be applied. c. Bluenose – NZSFC submission supported the Ministry’s option 3, as a minimum, to rebuild the depleted bluenose fishery to the default target stock size of 40% of unfished biomass (B40). Catch reductions must not be deferred again, as they were in 2013/14 on the promise of more data gathering. Bluenose has all the characteristics of an overexploited stock and must be rebuilt now.

Minister’s decision: TACC reduced by 18% nationally, MPI’s Option 2.

MPI recommended Option 2 to the Minister, while also acknowledging that 24 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

it was unlikely to achieve the target biomass within the rebuild timeframe, but could be an interim measure while a Management Procedure is developed

by MPI and commercial interests. d. John Dory 7 – NZSFC submission was only one of two submissions to MPI on JDO7. NZSFC advocated that precautionary management is required for this important fish stock because the fishery is showing signs of growth overfishing, particularly in the Tasman and Golden Bays.

The proposed TACC increase goes against all reasonable expectations and environmental principles.

Minister’s decision: TACC increased by 27%.

e. Paua 7 – NZSFC submission supported the Ministry’s and paua industry’s call for cuts to commercial harvesting to rebuild the PAU7 fish stock. We supported the proposed 60% TACC reduction.

Paua 7 has been below target stock size for nearly 20 years. The NZSFC objects to shelving as there is no statutory support for shelving, and the Minister is responsible for rebuilding and maintaining PAU7 in an abundant state.

Minister’s decision: TACC reduced by 50%. We will need to monitor management of this fishery given the Minister’s statement, “Over time I expect all sectors to play a role in rebuilding abundance in this fishery… .“I have therefore directed the Ministry to begin a shared fishery approach this year to discuss these matters, and investigate what, if any, additional management controls may be required

to ensure any rebuild of the stock is not undermined by increasing recreational harvest”. f. Snapper 7 – NZSFC submission recommended the Minister increase the TAC to cover existing use but rejected any TACC increase. SNA7 was overfished in the 1970s and 80s, and it remains below the target stock size There has been an increase in Snapper biomass and in amateur catch requiring an increase in the recreational allowance.

Minister’s decision: TACC increased by 25%. Recreational allowance increased by 178%. The Minister is again seeking a “shared fisheries engagement approach” and notes, “My decisions give these sectors (recreational and commercial) equal shares in a larger fishery and I am very interested to see how they make the best use of this opportunity”. ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 25

LEGASEA UPDATE

LEGASEA INITIATIVE PAYING OFF FOR NZSFC

By Scott MacIndoe / Trish Rea

COMMUNICATIONS Since taking on communications specialist Paul Brislen our reach into mainstream media has increased many times. Having the backup of the strong LegaSea brand has also helped to get our perspectives out wide.

Evidence of this evolution is the activity during the NZSFC AGM when the Heron report, summing up an investigation into MPI, was released. LegaSea was the go-to recreational fishing advocates for commentary and response to the findings that MPI had erred in not proceeding with prosecutions against commercial operators filmed dumping fish during Operation Achilles.

Scott Macindoe and Richard Baker have variously featured on television, radio and print media reports into the MPI investigations; Operations Achilles, Hippocamp and Overdue. All up, LegaSea achieved 48 media mentions since the news broke on September 16th, a successful outcome for LegaSea and the NZSFC. 26 â—† www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY CAMPAIGN Our team has been carefully responding to questions about how to resolve the issues highlighted in the Heron report and earlier investigations. While it would be easy to jump to the solution phase, the truth is we don’t even understand the problems and what is driving normally good people (mostly) to behave in an illegal manner. That is why it is important that we keep promoting the need for a Commission of Inquiry into the Quota Management System and fisheries management. We must first identify the problems before we can deliver robust outcomes that we can all be proud of.

POLL: COMMISSION OF INQUIRY Please, if you haven’t already, take 3 seconds to complete our poll: Do you support LegaSea’s call for a Commission with the LegaSea team over the past two of Inquiry? When you’ve finished, please and a half years. send it on to your family and friends. If we want a brighter fishing future, we need to EVENTS start standing up for ourselves now.

FRYDAY FRYUP We have taken another step towards getting our messages out to a wider audience by producing a light and tasty version of a fisheries related news update, called the Fryday FryUp. This is where we mix the serious with the not so serious news, trying to engage the public in fisheries matters without a political overload. This initiative is still in the early stages of development. We will monitor its success over time to determine if it is achieving our goal of wider reach and engagement.

FAREWELL TO MATT Matthew Taylor has taken the bold step of leaving the LegaSea team and moving into the Vega set-up where he is using his technical expertise to develop software packages for non-profit organisations such as the NZSFC. While it’s sad to see him go, the potential benefits for the NZSFC (and Matt) are exciting. We wish him well in his new adventure and are grateful for his time and generosity in sharing his knowledge

Piet Battaerd, Si Yates and a team of volunteers spent four days at the On the Water Boat Show at the Viaduct, Auckland. This is only the second time we were invited to participate in this event. We are grateful to Grant Dixon and Grant Blair of New Zealand Fishing Media, Peter Busfield and the Marine Industry Association for providing the space for us to get alongside the public and canvass their views on a range of topics. Over 400 new subscribers to the LegaSea newsletters and some keen LegaSea Legend signups made this attendance most worthwhile.

One lucky punter won $1000 towards a Fiordland adventure courtesy of Pure Salt. Piet was pleased to be asked to draw the winners name out of the hat. Congratulations Bryce Pratt. We look forward to seeing some pictures of Bryce and his mates fishing and diving in Fiordland.

In October LegaSea also supported the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron with their kids fishing event. It was the Squadron’s summer season opening day, and Scott Cushman attended the event on behalf of LegaSea. www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 27

NZMRF As the NZ Sport Fishing Council was the body that created the foundation and gave it our opening funds, we have a requirement that we report to the NZSFC every year at its AGM. This was duly carried out in September at the Whangamata Ocean Sports Club. The following is a paraphrase of that report.

their own review of it. This has led to more questions for the authors (Southwick Associates) which are being addressed in their peer review.

After a couple of false starts dating back to 2012, we now have the economic data we were looking for. Last year (2014-2015FY) the NZMRF spent $40,000 scoping the research and in this financial year $257,000 on the project itself. We did not have the funds ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION OF MARINE to do this alone and sought public RECREATIONAL FISHING IN NZ donations through “What’s Fishing This project, the largest ever undertaken Worth” via Spark’s ‘Givealittle’ online by the Foundation, is now virtually fundraising site. This raised $66,400 complete. We still await the peer review from supportive anglers, families, fishing report, but by and large, the full extent of and boating clubs and small businesses. the research is now known.

While we thought we could have done You would have seen the headlines better, the result did give us a lot of and bullet points that were produced public exposure. The NZSFC did give us by the report: valuable support with your advance of three years donations and additional • 700,000 people fish in the one-off $10,000. This was instrumental sea every year in the trustees being able to get the • They spend 946 million dollars project completed.

• 1.7 billion in economic activity At times things were financially tight, and • 5th most popular recreational we are thankful to Scott Macindoe for adult activity his timely underwrite. This has now been repaid. We are also grateful for Guardian • 8,100 jobs supported of the Sea for their continued support of • 136 million GST and 52 million in NZMRF to the extent of $30,000 which income tax per year also helped with the fundraising costs.

• 100,000 tourists fish here every year However, we did run at a shortfall and These are the main points, but the the trustees, to complete the project, report goes into more detail. It is a farwere forced to utilise our reserve fund reaching document that already has the which is why the end of year financial attention of MPI who have conducted 28 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

report shows our net equity of only $76,400, which is under our stated aim of having a $100,000 reserve. We will rebuild this in time but have put a priority on continued research where needed - provided the reserve fund is not further compromised.

OTHER PROJECTS

TRUSTEES We currently operate on a bare minimum of four trustees plus chairman and secretary. We are looking for additions and believe we could benefit from having two more trustees.

LATEST NEWS

At the AGM two new prospective trustees had been found, and we will consider these at our next meeting in December. The AGM delegates with the help of Shimano Fishing NZ managed to raise $700 for the foundation. Additionally, we received Our accounting system has changed in that we now utilise Xero at a modest cost direct support from the Manukau Sport Fishing Club $7000, Clevedon of $27 per month. Future work Game Fishing Club $2000, Trailer The trustees would like to build on Boat Federation $500 and Big Fishing the value of a recreational fishing Club $1000 all of which we are very project by going a step further so thankful and pleased that at club that we can compare values of a levels the members appreciate the single fish recreationally caught vs. value of the research we sponsor on commercially caught. We know we their behalf. ◆ will be placed well in this comparison but need the research to back it.

To find out more visit us here and This is estimated to cost $35,000, subscribe for updates. Follow so we are working on ways to source LegaSea’s community engagement by liking us on Facebook this funding before proceeding.

We continued to develop our website.

This was essential to keeping interested public, and potential donators informed on the research we have completed and who we are.

www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 29

CLUB PROFILE

MANGAWHAI BOATING & FISHING CLUB INC.

By Charles Law

total membership of 318 back then, we are on the up and up. Formerly we were Nestled under the hills surrounding the famous Otamatea Boating & Fishing the Brynderwyn’s just south of Lang’s Club. Our club has been the driving Cove and north of Te Ari, settled in the force behind the floating pontoon at the middle of Bream Bay and the closest main boat ramp, the ramps upkeep and boat ramp to the Hen & Chickens expansion, what started as a wide oneIslands and the Mokohinaus. lane ramp is now at least a three-lane Mangawhai is situated 1 1/2 hours version with the pontoon in the middle, north of the harbour bridge and less to help ease the congestion at peak than an hour south of Whangarei on season use. We are now on upgrade the east coast. four, more concrete on the northern side; we have just finished lengthening the The Club was first formed in 1966, and pontoon out six metres giving us an all in 1998 affiliated to the NZBGFC (now the NZ Sport Fishing Council Inc.). With a tide launch and retrieval facility.

WHERE ARE WE?

30 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Working on the harbour

The harbour offers two boat ramps for easy launching and sufficient parking for trailers. Within 30 minutes you can be in the most wonderful fishing spots, including great coastal spots and the famous Hen & Chicken Islands, not to mention Sail Rock. Add another hour, and you will reach the Mokohinau Islands, once you have crossed the ‘Bar’. On a normal day, crossing is a breeze, but it is a bar and you do have to be aware of the dangers.

If you have never been out of Mangawhai and need to know where the channel lies, contact the club or just ask any local, and we will show you the way. When game fishing is in season you have all the big species swimming past us; Blue and Black Marlin, Broadbill Swordfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Striped Marlin with winter Snapper up to 12kg and kingfish up to 40kg. www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 31

We pride ourselves as a family-based fishing club and welcome members to bring their families down to all events to watch and participate, have a meal then applaud when dad gets a mystery weight prize. In our trophies, we have shore based and boat based Snapper and Kahawai trophies, men’s, ladies, juniors, and midgets, plus others for meritorious catch, conservation, first and heaviest gamefish.

We started out based near Kaiwaka as the Otamatea Boating & Fishing club and around early to mid-90’s shifted base to Mangawhai and shared the Mangawhai Surf Lifesaving clubs boat shed for events, our President was Grant Gardner who changed our club’s name to reflect where we are now based and instigated the club’s 32 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

affiliation to the NZBGFC now NZSFC, the lease to the land was next with Brian Cottrell as President, the first stage design and initial fund raising completed 1998–2002. President from 2003–2006 was Paul Batten, and in this time the first sod of earth was turned, and building started, we had good building bee’s, plenty of sausages on the barbie and liquid refreshments afterwards.

This year’s AGM we celebrated our clubs first fifty years, we held a special function where old and new members got together over a meal and told big stories of fish that did not get away and those that did. A great night that all who attended agreed was right up there just like the Oscars.

Club Captain Rob Cameron

A good day

At our 51st AGM this year, the following was put; Isabel Hollis spoke on the three nominations for life membership put forward and endorsed by the committee being; Howard Hill (one of the original founding committee members), Darryl Reardon (weighmaster from the past six years

and committee stalwart), and Paul Batten (past committee member, past President and 19 years club delegate to national body). Moved Isabel Hollis/seconded Dawn Powell that ’the three nominated members be bestowed that of Life Membership of the Mangawhai Boating and Fishing Club’. CARRIED unanimously. ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 33

TOURNAMENT PROFILE

HOUHORA BGSFC TOURNAMENT PROFILE e

are spoiled for choice when it comes to game fishing competitions these days, so what’s the single most important feature you would look for?

The Houhora Big Game & Sports Fishing Club (Inc) is New Zealand’s most northern fishing club and has long been known as the ‘Gateway to the Three Kings’.

Nestled on the banks of the beautiful Houhora Harbour the clubrooms were built with volunteer labour over a period 34 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

of13 years and officially opened in February 2003.

Houhora is a small rural settlement is situated 40 kilometres north of Kaitaia on State Highway 1 approximately halfway up the Aupouri Peninsula and roughly an hour from Cape Reinga.

Although small in size Houhora has just about everything you need for your fishing experience. Proximity from coast to coast is roughly 10 kilometres offering fishermen a choice of coasts to fish from dependent on the weather.

BOAT SAFETY The four-day Houhora One Base Gamefishing Tournament is the reel deal (excuse the pun) in fishing contests - long known for being a friendly, community-minded event run by a team of volunteers.

More reasons for fishing at Houhora…

• The flexibility of launching from Shipwreck Bay Ahipara on the West Coast or Houhora on the East has to be the most unique feature of this tournament.

The first competition was held in 1995 and named the Penn Tackle Houhora • Fishing boundaries are from One Base and was fished over five days Herekino Harbour in the south of the with only 45 boats and 158 contestants.

West Coast around to just north of The competition continued to grow in Whangaroa on the East Coast. Fish popularity with the 7th Penn Tackle the Three Kings only on the stayaway Houhora One Base starting with 152 days/nights. teams & 620 anglers and of course • Our boat launching facilities features featured the legendary marquee. an excellent two lane concrete boat The days of the big marquee are now ramp located in front of the clubrooms. gone as we run the contest from our clubrooms. This year we reached our • The harbour entrance has no bar to maximum capacity for our facility with navigate with the channel being well 316 anglers and 93 teams. defined by marker buoys. Moorings are available upon request.

As we are located away from the major centres, attracting potential sponsors • Fuel can be obtained 24/7 at the has always been a tough battle none commercial wharf. Being a holiday the less we are immensely grateful for destination, there are a variety the continuing support we receive from of campgrounds, backpacker individuals and businesses each year. accommodation & holiday homes for This year top prize was $20,000 for you to choose from. the heaviest Striped Marlin. 2017 will see the $20,000 split. Heaviest Striped • Lastly the fishing, over the years Marlin will take away $10,000 cash there has been many XOS specimens as will the heaviest billfish (other than weighed. 2017 could be your turn.

Striped Marlin and including Swordfish).

If you plan to fish any tournament next Heaviest Tuna receives $1000 cash. season, make Houhora your fishing Two stayaway nights, daily prizegiving and lucky draws are also on offer. To see destination – you won’t regret it! more about this iconic contest, go here. Contact Debbie Bunn 027 226 5751 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 35

ITM PROFILE

ITM’s Biggest Building Project Ever!!

An introduction to ITM and proposed member benefit program

By Si Yates / C Boyle

t ITM we know the value of a day spent off the work site and on the water with a bunch of mates and a rod. We know the value of having something to bring home to your mates and family at the end of the trip, to continue festivities and talk about the one that got away.

In New Zealand’s relatively short history, we have already plundered many of our natural resources. But it’s much harder to see the damage happening in our marine environment.

The adage ‘out of sight, out of mind’ has never been more fitting. There is no way we would let a bulldozer cut through our pristine forests just to Through our experience with Matt Watson and the ITM Fishing Show along harvest some deer, yet we allow similar with our regular support of local fishing destruction on our sea beds. events, we also know that bringing fish ITM wants to make a difference, to home to share is getting tougher. maintain what is such a big part of It’s not surprising that, with overfishing, our Kiwi identity. We are going to help rebuild our inshore fisheries by backing pollution and antiquated commercial LegaSea all the way. ITM is proud trawling practices, the marine to announce it has signed up as a environment is facing more threats today than ever before. It’s been a case LegaSea Platinum Partner. of out of sight out of mind.

36 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

“Restoring fishing abundance is a huge

challenge and is the biggest building FISHING BUILDS COMMUNITIES project we have ever been a part of and ITM also recognise that the NZSFC certainly one of the most rewarding,” affiliated fishing clubs around the country says Scott Duncan ITM CEO. have an intimate knowledge of their local “We feel it is our obligation to leave our fishing values and experiences. They have marine environment in a better state an established community engagement than when we found it in”. and demonstrate a high level of respect In 2012 the New Zealand Sport Fishing for their accessible fish. With ITM’s 95 Council (NZSFC) established LegaSea independently owned and operated stores as it’s not-for-profit, public outreach and around the country there is an ITM close fundraising arm. The Council noticed to every NZSFC affiliated fishing club. the decline in our fisheries and the poor Subsequently, ITM has also elected to be a decisions being made to manage it. naming rights sponsor of the 2017 NZSFC So with a bit of Kiwi DIY attitude, they Nationals alongside Simrad. decided to stand up for the interests of “This is our opportunity to take our all New Zealanders. support for fishing into our communities LegaSea’s goal along with the NZSFC is to rebuild New Zealand’s inshore fisheries by restoring abundance and diversity in our coastal waters. A thriving fishery is good for our social well being and it’s a money spinner for NZ’s economy.

Currently we spend a billion dollars a year as recreational fishers chasing our target species. On top of that 100,000 tourists go fishing in NZ every year, and a large proportion of those release their fish. Imagine if we were able to build our fisheries and advertise ourselves as the number one fishing spot in the world. It would be a much better way to utilise our fish.

with the help of the local fishing clubs,” says Chris Boyle, Marketing Manager ITM. “We are encouraging our stores to play a meaningful role in enhancing the success of their local fishing clubs as a national initiative to build greater awareness of the need to rebuild our fish stocks for the benefit of all. It’s all about DIY together.”

If you like to, now and then, put down your work tools and pick up a rod then join us in our building project.

Many hands make light work and our fisheries need all the help they can get. Make yourselves known to your local ITM, and together we can make this rebuild a success. ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 37

ANGLER ARTICLE

TONY ORTON PROFILE TIMES ARE CHANGING Part 1

By RB and Scott Cushman

Tony Orton, A professional fisherman, charter guide, travelling fisherman. With thousands of billfish captures for his clients, family and friends and a true passion to fish the world over to learn different techniques to catch sport fish, it’s no wonder he looks at life in a different way. This 2-part article is on what goes on in the head of a man who has dedicated his life to sport fishing.

38 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

Being a mildly hardcore adventure traveller, I have walked my life journey based on experience/adventures and not monetary wealth. From a very young age, I always managed to just scrape up enough money to travel, fish and surf (the latter has stopped due to the ever increasing passion and addiction to explore the world’s best fishing destinations).

I was very lucky to have a couple of ‘near death’ experiences at a young age (lucky?). These experiences have now paved my route and have shown me life is short and could be taken away from us at any time and also makes me a question, why waste precious time and to get out there and follow your dreams.

I like to keep an open mind so I can hopefully have a balanced view on life.

For me fishing all over the world has given me the opportunity to meet some great fisherman, open my mind to different ways to catch game fish and also witness how others look after or exploit their fisheries. Sport fishing has given me a great life, and I have been very lucky to be able to support my family out of my passion!

world’s biggest, most prestigious fishing tournaments, fishing some of the more exotic fishing destinations, in state of the art game boats, as big as 24 metres long. It was a no expense spared sportfishing operation to ensure our ‘Boss’ had an amazing time, and a path that would end up changing our lives forever.

What Bea and I saw in our travels, made us realise the very special opportunity that Kiwi’s have in the fishery available to them on their doorstep, and just how large the world fishing tourism market is, and the potential for New Zealand to tap into what is a growing market.

Our goal was always to move back to Mangawhai Heads to start a family and have our own little boutique fishing lodge and sport fishing I started my charter career chasing operation. So in February 2014 our Snapper in the Hauraki Gulf in a small dream finally became a reality. We alloy charter boat. Even with doing up also still get to spend four months to two trips a day I was still struggling during the winter guiding outbound to pay the bills which in turn made my Kiwi tourists to some amazing fishing perfect job not feel so perfect anymore. locations throughout the world, mainly Bea and I then made a life-changing decision to sell up and go find our dream chasing billfish, Tuna and GT. We now run one of New Zealand’s job running large sport fishing vessels busiest charter operations with many in some of the world’s best billfish locations. It took two years of hard work overseas clients coming to fish with us, and some testing times to finally find the spending tens of thousands of dollars right boat and owner. on trips in pursuit of our world renown For the next seven years, I was a private Yellowtail Kingfish and Striped Marlin at the Mokohinau Islands, a mere 60 miles captain/fishing guide for the extremely wealthy businessman. Based overseas, from the country’s largest city. and living out of a suitcase, we flew from boat to boat competing in some of the

For me fishing is not about killing, it is more about the hunt and learning how www.nzsportfishing.co.nz ◆ 39

“

“

Even in my short life, I’ve seen increased population and pressure on some fisheries to the point they may never be able to recover

to catch a specific species, catch as many as I can and as fast as I can then releasing them in as healthy as condition possible.

With fishing regularly, we only ever catch just enough for a few meals and just enjoy the sport fishing experience with as little impact on the environment as possible. My charter business has very strict rules limiting clients to only keeping one kingfish per person and releasing all billfish.

with the wellbeing of our ocean and fish stocks. I fished areas 30 years ago to return only to see floating plastic and dead water, from the excessive catch by both commercial and recreational interests. This also often leads to areas locked down to no-fishing zones.

Even in my short life, I’ve seen increased population and pressure on some fisheries to the point they may never be able to recover. With New Zealand’s population now rapidly The experience is based around learning heading towards five million people, different techniques and respecting our and industrial trawlers still working our valuable inshore fisheries, I lose sleep environment. It’s a modern approach and sees us with a full booking schedule at night wondering are we one of the last generations that are going to have of both tourists and local fishers. This the chance to catch the last of these is evidence that often people are now amazing trophy size fish? going fishing more for the experience, and do not require 50kgs of fish filets for the village, rather, just enough to feed Look out for part 2 of this article where their family.

Tony goes into details of changes in the During 30 years of travelling and fishing, my mind is now clouded and consumed 40 ◆ www.nzsportfishing.co.nz

sport fishing scene that are only positive for the future of our sport and fish. ◆