Foreign fleets blamed for inshore decline

Press, 16 June 1982, Page 28

Foreign fleets blamed for inshore decline

The day of the little man in fishing has gone, says the Christchurch entrepreneur, Mr Kypros Kolzikas. Boat owner, exporter, merchant (he is the managing director of United Fisheries, Amalgamated Fisheries, and Blenheim Fisheries), Mr Kotzikas describes himself as a trader. “The 50-footers.seud to go out for two or three days at a time, but now they are working inshore," he" says (four 50-foot boats of his are based- at Lyttelton). This has led to pressure on flat-fish resources. Mr Kotzikas blames the foreign boats for the decline of the inshore fishery, declining resources of tarakihi and gurnard being left inshore off Canterbury and fewer groper and ling "being caught eachyea r. He sees the big future as being in the deep-sea resources. At present he is buying orange roughy from joint-venture boats. This and other deep-water fish such as the hake and blue warehou are good marketing prospects compared with the red cod and barracouta which are the main catch of the larger inshore boats at present. But New Zealand should have exclusive fishing rights in its 200-mile zone, he believes. “At this stage we are competing with too many foreigners. We should have exclusive rights for 10 years, but perhaps with some overseas expertise. “The South Island is a good base for deep-sea fishing, and I know we could sell the fish overseas.” Mr Kotzikas is flying chilled fish to Australia two or three days a week; the amount is limited only by the air-cargo space available. He gets a higher return on chilled fish in Australia than on frozen fish sent by ship. A small amount of his chilled

fish is going to Europe, and snapper is being airfreighted there from Auckland. This is where he believes the future lies: in high quality chilled fish flown to markets where it can command good prices. "Overseas. New Zealand fish, especially that from the deep sea, is regarded as good quality.” But to build up market volume, steady supplies are needed. These will come from big vessels which are less dependent on the weather than the inshore fleet. Apart from dictating when the boats can go out, the weather changes inshore salinity, both by rivers in flood and rainfall. This affects catches. Mr Kotzikas sees the backbone of New Zealand fishing becoming 10 to 15 150-foot to 200-foot vessels (the present cost of these is SSM to S6M each), perhaps with three or four fishing off Canterbury. The traditional inshore fleet of 40ft to 50ft craft will survive, with smaller catches, compensated for by higher prices for the fish. As a whole, he believes the fishing industry can be an export earner for New Zealand second only to meat production. However, Mr Howard Shadbolt, managing director of Independent Fisheries, processer and boat owner, sees capital as the big hurdle for deep-sea fishing. “You pay ?lVi million for an 85-footer, and in deep-sea terms that's just a canoe,” he says. According to the. Ministry of Agriculture'and Fisheries, about 20 foreign vessels and 200 joint-venture vessels are working in the 200-mile economic zone at present. No big foreign fleets have been fishing inshore off Canterbury since 1978. Canterbury’s traditional inshore boats of 40ft to 50ft

worked to the 100-fathom line on the edge of the Continental Shelf until the joint-venture and foreign vessels came on to the scene. When these bigger boats arrived, the 40ft to 50ft class found it could not compete for the fish this far out, and began almost exclusively working the belt within 10 miles offshore, where the smaller craft to 30ft had been dominant. Now the foreign vessels have gone from the zone off the South Island east coast. The joint-venture vessels have been pushed out to an inner limit of 25 miles from the coast, "and we’re working like hell to get them off the Continental Shelf.” says Mr R. M. Brown, chairman of the Lyttelton Fishermen’s Association. The Lyttelton fishermen helped to originate the moratorium. At the 1981 conference of the Federation of Commercial Fishermen there were many remits from associations about what was felt to be the overfishing of the inshore grounds. A composite remit was drawn up calling for a moratorium, and a moratorium had been mentioned by the Lyttelton group. Mr Brown sees no problems ■ frdm New Zealand’s own growing big-trawler fleet as long as it stays well out. Life hasn’t been all against the tide for the fishermen. Better equipment is helping efficiency. His boat, the 50ft Ida Marion, has an automatic pilot, allowing the crewman who would formerly have been at the wheel to be working on deck. It has a radar which allows the vessel to go out in poorer visibility. There are two sounders, one of which helps to find schools of fish. •“We’re doing our damndest to catch them: “I’d hate to be a fish today,” he said. For fishermen who have

been prudent and planned ahead such equipment is beneficial. But it is a problem for some. Sideband radios are now mandatory, and fishermen have known for a number of years that this would soon be' the case. But now that the authorities are insisting that craft carry them, the $3OOO or so for each set is hurting some owners. Mr Brown’s picture of the future is one in which there will be fewer fishing craft working off the east coast to the 100-fathom line, many having been forced out by rising costs. But he believes the good fisherman has a good chance of surviving. The good fisherman is the man who can work out his costings, has the drive to go out fishing at every opportunity, who looks after his boat and keeps his gear in good order and up to date, and u’ho has developed a feeling for fishing (“it’s a hunting game," he says). The importance of the human factor is also emphasised by a man whose job is assessing the potential of fishing ventures. “The physical input is a big thing in fishing. You can’t make money tied up at the wharf on a good day," says Mr Kevin Wilson. Senior Appraiser with the Rural Bank in Christchurch. Maintenance is another important factor, he says. This applies not just to the engine, but to the fishing gear and the hull. Fuel costs have hit fishermen hard. Once, perhaps 10 per cent of a fisherman's turnover went on diesel; now it will be as high as 30 per cent, and of course, the turnover is much higher.

Nets have to be reslung each year and the ropes used are made from an oil product. and have also been rising with the price of .fuel. In all. 371 fishing boats are registered at Lyttelton, but 8a per cent of these are 10 metres or less, and 30 per cent are less than five metres. Most of the catch landed at Lyttelton is from trawlers in the 40ft to 60ft class. Some craft under this size have

fitted small trawl gear and a few boats are set netting. At Akaroa seven or eight trawlers and about 20 smaller boats seek mainly rock lobster (the transport costs are against wet-fish catching), with a little setnetting and some line fishing. Between the Waimakariri and Scarborough, about a dozen hardy tiny boats from a registered fleet of about 40 still do seasonal set-net fishing. They are trailerlaunched. A fleet of 15 to 20 vessels.

smaller because of the bar. works from Motunau. mainly taking rock lobster, but there have been some set-net experiments. A local class of boat is evolving at Kaikoura. according to Mr R. V. Reid, the regional fisheries officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. It is of about 30ft. fast, and a better sea boat than earlier vessels. It is ramp launched. Since the control of the rock-lobster fishery, many Kaikoura fishermen have taken up set netting. Vessels of 90ft and more from Nel-

son and Wellington trawl • further off the coast, and in ! the last few seasons there j has been some seining. ; About 50 boats are work- i ing from the Chathams rock- j lobster ground: virtually the j only wetfish landed is for i baft. Timaru is a strong fishing ; port. About 50 boats of the ; traditional 40ft to 50ft in- j shore class and a few bigger ; vessels make up a fleet that j ranges the east coast from ; Akaroa to the southern tip. ; Virtually no rock lobster is i landed: Timaru is basically a i trawler port.