More boats, fewer crays

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32406, 19 September 1970, Page 18

More boats, fewer crays

Tailing at sea, the taking of female crayfish carrying eggs, and taking undersized crayfish was still rife in the Chatham Islands, and crayfish thus caught or processed illegally co m - prised at least 15 per cent of the catch, said Mr J. R. McNeill, manager of a crayfish processing plant at Owenga in recent years.

Mr McNeill arrived in Christchurch last Tuesday and will be returning to his job next week. Four cray processing [plants at the Chathams had closed but six were still working. The catch last season was only 45 per cent of that Of the record 1967-68 (season. This season he expected that the catch would be i be only half of last season’s. “There has not been a run this season, only spasmodic fishing. My company, Yovich and Hopkins, North Auckland. has 22 boats fishing into the factory. In the good years we got up to 350 tons with 15 boats; this season we will I be lucky to get 50 tons, I probably nearer 40. with 22 (boats. “It is the same at the [other processing plants, i There are 120 boats available [for crayfishing; my forecast

lis that the number will be down to 80 next season. Economics will force the number down because of poor catches. And 85 boats was the number Mr Hopkins suggested as the limit to the Marine Department after he took part in the first big catches in 1965-66,” Mr McNeill said.

He said that some plants were cooking body meat of the crayfish, two were experimenting with paua and sea eggs, and all had been processing a little blue cod—but there had been a shortage of cod this season. “Plant managers discuss consolidation to cut down on management, overheads and staff, but then the owners come into it. It would be logical to have four plants—one at Waitangi, Owenga, Kaingaroa and Pitt Island. The next logical one to go would be that of Pitt Packers, Ltd (it is in receivership, anyway) and boats can fish the Pitt beds from Waitangi and Owenga.”

Mr McNeill said that tailing at sea not only lowered the quality of tails and could affect the export market, but also deprived all those working and living on the islands of profit. The County Council was cheated of its levy, and the plants had no cray to process when overheads were hard to meet because of the small catches.

Taking undersized crays and females carrying eggs was the fastest way further to deplete the beds. The Marine Department had a good fisheries inspector on the islands, but he could not be everywhere and everv cray boat had a radio-telephone over which to learn of the inspector’s movements.

“There will always be crayfish at the Chathams, but days of enormous runs of the big bucks, the clean females,

- and the mixed runs, are over, t “Common sense and hard ! economic facts of life will . dictate fewer -factories and ! boats, and more co-operation of those engaged in the industry over there,” Mr Me- 1 Neill said.