In celebration of World Albatross Day on Saturday 19 June, we have dusted off the Albert Times and published this special edition.
To read the full edition, and to go in the...
Republished from SeafoodSource.com.
A global movement to create additional marine protected areas (MPAs) has been steadily gaining traction in recent years, with the initiative picking up milestone victories in the past few months.
In January, newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order committing to a “30 by 30” goal, whereby the United States would designated 30 percent of its land and territorial waters to conservation by the year 2030. The move heightened the potential that MPAs will be used as a tool to tackle climate change.
Richard O'Driscoll, NIWA's Chief Scientist for Fisheries, calmly and clearly lays out the flaws in Seaspiracy and reiterates the science that goes into making New Zealand’s fisheries one of the most sustainable in the world.
The latest Status of our Fish Stocks, as assessed annually by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), shows New Zealand’s sustainability credentials are holding up globally. Some 91 percent of all assessed commercial catch has no sustainability issues according to the latest science. And what that means, is the other nine percent is actively being rebuilt through catch limit reductions or closures, as they were found to be below an acceptable level.
With misinformation on seafood at an all-time high right now, it is more important than ever to spread as widely as possible the truth about the sustainability of New Zealand fisheries and the environmental care that is going into protecting our marine space.
New Zealand has a robust and strictly enforced Quota Management System (QMS) which was designed to ensure our fisheries are sustainable and the wider aquatic environment protected. The QMS is a global success story. Some New Zealand fisheries were once overfished and most have recovered to levels where they can be sustainably used. Orange roughy is a great example of this and is now independently certified as sustainable and healthy by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Ray Hilborn and his colleagues at Sustainable Fisheries UW have set up a scientific resource library on their website to combat misinformation and to explain the science of sustainable seafood. In this 3,000-word point-by-point scientific rebuttal to Seaspiracy, they dive into the science and data. Basically, most of the filmmakers' claims come from very old, outdated studies and/or egregious misunderstandings.
A report on a review into New Zealand’s fisheries management “The future of commercial fishing in Aotearoa New Zealand” was released on 24 March 2021. This report was compiled by the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Prof Dame Juliet Gerrard and an expert panel comprised of representatives from commercial fisheries, fisheries research organisations and NGOs. It provides a suite of recommendations designed to chart a course for New Zealand commercial fisheries into the future.
The article below is republished with permission from the Sustainable Fisheries website from the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. Author, Max Mossler, is an important voice in addressing the reportage of fisheries globally and follows in the footsteps of his pioneering colleague, Ray Hilborn.
Top-quality seafood has been slashed in price in an effort to support iwi during COVID-19. Sealord and Moana New Zealand have been providing their products at discounted prices – up to 70 percent off their retail value – with iwi purchasing the product in large quantities to distribute them to whanau for free.
This week’s release of the National Plan of Action on seabirds was the result of three years of discussions between industry, eNGOs, Fisheries New Zealand, and the Department of Conservation (DOC).
For those inspired by stories of the Kraken, here’s one for you.
This five-kilo beast was recently brought aboard the FV Independent while mid-water trawling for arrow squid at the Snares.
“New Zealand is known as the seabird capital of the world. As the breeding grounds for a third of the world’s seabird species, we have an international responsibility to ensure their long-term survival”
Two orange roughy fisheries – one in the Tasman, the other centred in the Pacific and the sub-Antarctic – received substantial quota increases in the sustainability round that came into effect on 1 October 2019, the start of the new fishing year.
For those inspired by stories of the Kraken, here’s one for you.
This five-kilo beast was recently brought aboard the FV Independent while mid-water trawling for arrow squid at the Snares.
For those inspired by stories of the Kraken, here’s one for you.
This five-kilo beast was recently brought aboard the FV Independent while mid-water trawling for arrow squid at the Snares.
New Zealand’s Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs) are internationally-recognised as a type of Marine Protected Area (MPA). The IUCN recognises seven categories of MPAs and BPAs meet Category VI.
OpenSeas continues to attract more and more users each month as the single source of reliable information on New Zealand’s key commercial fish species.
With seventeen New Zealand fisheries recertified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in September, some 50 percent of New Zealand’s wild marine catch now holds this gold standard of sustainability...
This year’s sustainability round, announced by Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash (September 2018), saw 11 catch limits increase and 12 decrease.
A decrease in catch has very real consequences for fishing families and should not be taken lightly, however we must be prepared to act when stocks need to be rebuilt...
Fishing has always been an integral part of Jake McFedries’ life.
With a father who spent a fair amount of time recreationally fishing, McFedries practically grew up on the water. Being surrounded by boats and anglers and with his own love for the sea, McFedries knew he wanted to make a career out of fishing...
The Tasman Sea is warming at one of the fastest rates on earth, bringing widespread implications for the marine environment.
Despite New Zealand having one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the world, there is limited information available to measure, monitor and predict how ocean warming will affect New Zealand waters.
The Moana Project has set out to address this...
Quota owners in the New Zealand hoki fishing industry have announced today they have proactively chosen to reduce the amount of hoki they will catch next year, in response to changing patterns they are observing in one of the...
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash today (19/9/2018) announced his decisions on changes to fisheries catch limits from 1 October 2018.
Thirty-two catch limits were reviewed in this sustainability round.
Four deepwater fisheries were reviewed and each had their Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) limits increased, decisions supported by the best available science.
Published: 28 August 2018
What’s causing the decline of sea lions? And what’s the remedy?
The New Zealand sea lion population at Auckland Islands (Figure 1) is assessed to have declined from around...
Published: J Cleal and R Wells - 22 August 2018
Between 2000 and 2005 there was growing awareness and understanding of interactions between seabirds and deepwater trawlers (e.g. greater than 28m in length) and, in...
Published: 25 July 2018
Elle Kibblewhite has plenty of sea-faring achievements to her name. At 16, Elle began working with her Dad, Richard, cray fishing and set netting on Splashzone 2 during the summer. She also gained her commercial electrician’s trade certificate.
Published: 27 June 2018
After 40 days at sea and even longer away from his family, just moments after setting foot on dry land, Skipper Stephan Fridell received just what every Dad would be longing for – a huge bear hug from his two children....
(reposted from the NZ Herald) 22 February 2018
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more...
From The New Zealand Herald 23 October 2017
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935905
A new study by Dr Stefan Meyer from the University of Otago, published in the NZ Heraldrecently, claimed to have "game-changing" new evidence linking the decline of New Zealand sea lions to...
Published: 17 October 2017
[caption id="attachment_5976" align="alignnone" width="604"]
Photograph by Peter Marriott/NIWA[/caption]
The seafood industry and the Ministry for Primary Industries continue to collaborate during the rollout of the Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System (IEMRS).
The...
Published: 17 October 2017
Increased biomass in red gurnard and orange roughy fisheries has seen a rise in catch limits.
The Ministry for Primary Industries announced the adjustments as part of their twice-yearly fisheries sustainability review.
The orange...
To sustain the seas, advocates of marine protected areas and those in fisheries management must work together, not at cross purposes, urges Ray Hilborn.
Reposted from Nature Magazine, 13 July 2016
On 1 September, government leaders, directors of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others will meet in Hawaii...
A new form of commercial fishing - precision seafood harvesting (PSH) - has improved the survival rates for by-catch, scientists involved in the New Zealand project said.The system - which uses a large, flexible PVC liner with specifically sized holes along its length, allows undersized fish to escape before...