Anglers and farmers unhappy about plan to allow sale of sea-caught salmon

Press, 19 August 1982, Page 21

Anglers and farmers unhappy about plan to allow sale of sea-caught salmon

By

GARRY ARTHUR

Salmon anglers and salmon farmers are wary of a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries proposal to make it legal for commercial fishermen to market salmon they catch at sea while fishing for cod and other species. They fear it may lead to commercial “target fishing" for salmon at sea.

Increasingly large numbers of salmon are being caught by the bigger trawlers now in use off the Canterbury coast. One Timaru vessel, the Galatea n, has caught 3200 salmon in the three years it bas been fishing. At present, salmon caught accidentally as a “by-catch” may not be landed or sold. Once they are within the limits of acclimatisation districts they become acclimatised fish, whose posses-

sion and sale are illegal.

Samples are meant to be given to the Ministry for scientific research, and the fish thrown back in the sea.

In practice, salmon caught in the numbers reported by the Galatea are an embarrassment. A small number of samples have been sent to the research laboratory, and the fishermen say they distribute the fish as gifts to charity and associates. Interested parties have been asked to comment by the end of thus month on the new proposal to legalise the sale of such fish, beginning in October.

The Ministry’s plan is that salmon caught accidentally at sea must be delivered to authorised fish packing houses. There, they will be recorded and stored until sold by tender to registered

salmon farmers. Eighty per cent of the proceeds will go to the catcher and the rest to the acclimatisation societies.

This is proposed for a three-year period, the Ministry says, in the expectation that the commercial fisherman will get a price for the salmon which is at least equal to the price he gets for prime export species of fish. Advantages claimed for the scheme are that scientists will get access to research material of benefit to anglers and farmers; it will not create a separate market for salmon; the reasonable return to commercial fishermen will discourage the black market in salmon; and the beneficial involvement of acclimatisa-

tion societies and salmon farmers — both are interested in enhancing the salmon population — will be a built-in safeguard.

Salmon farmers who'are releasing young fish into the rivers in the hope of getting them back at a saleable size are naturally afraid that once trawlers are allowed to market salmon caught accidentally at sea they will start looking for them as a “target” catch.

The Salmon Farmers’ Association is totally opposed to the proposal to legalise the marketing of sea-caught salmon, says Mr J. D. Wisker, the association’s secretary. “Ranching is still in the experimental stage, and we

can see no benefits in this for us," he says. “Sure, they may find out what salmon eat and where they go, but who can do anything about that?”

Mr Wisker says that salmon farmers wanted the Ministry to wait a few years to see how their development work on ocean ranching worked out.

Acclimatisation societies and the Salmon Anglers’ Association have given only grudging support to the marketing plan. Mr Ross Lightfoot, of the Salmon Anglers, says his organisation supports it only on condition that it be stopped if it shows signs of getting out of hand, and that the commercial fishermen,, receive a price for salmon somewhere between the price they get for cod and high-priced fish such as

groper — between 80c and $3.50 a kilo at present. "Otherwise salmon might end up a target fish,” he says.

Salmon anglers see value in the research data that will come in. but would rather see the Ministry buy the salmon than have'the salmon farmers buy them. Mr W. McKillop. president of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, also considers the proposal an unsatisfactory arrangement. “We object to it,” he says, “because ocean ranching is just getting off the ground and nothing has been proven yet about the return of fish.”

He would like to see the Ministry bring the sea-caught salmon in on an experimental basis and set a price to the commercial fishermen.

The Ministry says its legalised marketing scheme will enable it to learn about the distribution of salmon at sea, and it could use this knowledge if necessary to designate closed areas and seasons to protect stocks.

If the numbers of salmon caught at sea increased markedly — to a level which the Ministry felt could significantly affect the number returning to rivers — the legislation could be altered at any time. - The Ministry adds that gill-netting, some of it close in-shore, and trawling in deep water by big, fast trawlers, accounts for most of the salmon caught at sea. Of these, gill netting at river mouths is the main area of concern.

It proposes to prohibit commercial fishing for finfish within a Ikm radius of salmon river mouths, and also to restrict the depth of bottom gill nets. Although more salmon were now being caught at sea because of the advent of larger trawlers, they were being caught accidentally, apparently while fishing for cod.

The researchers found no evidence that salmon could be “target fished.” They said most had been caught in 25 to 35 fathoms and 10 to 25 miles off-shore. But if salmon were an accepted incidental catch, commercial fishermen would have to be prevented from using techniques that could lead to target-fishing for salmon. Some fishing gear might have to be banned pending further investigation.

The Freshwater Fisheries Advisory Council, which has recommended the new policy to the Ministry, took into account the observations of two representatives of the Ashburton Acclimatisation Society. They accepted an invitation to spend two days at sea early in February on the Galatea 11, an 86ft stern trawler operated by the Ken-

ton Trawling Company of Timaru.

Reporting on the trip, Mr Brian Kenton told the council that now that large trawlers were working in New Zealand-owned fleets they were starting to catch salmon and this was somewhat embarrassing for commercial fishermen. Most of the salmon the Galatea had been catching were at depths of 50 to 65 metres at times when red cod were abundant. He took the two observers to the most likely spot, and the catches of salmon proved to be higher than average.

Mr Kenton said the Galatea had caught about 3200 salmon in the three years it had been fishing in New Zealand, waters. In the same period, the vessel landed more than 6000 tonnes of

fish,. so the 16 tonnes of salmon was “a 1 very infinitesimal percentage of the catch.”

In the two days, the Galatea II caught 46 salmon in a total catch of about 14,000 fish. The acclimatisation society observers reported that they were taken accidentally, and none were fit to return to the water when released from the trawl. There was no evidence that the salmon were being marketed. The fish were distributed among the crew or management and colleagues, and given to charity. ■ “A good number of fish have been given to the Salvation Army Boys Home in Temuka and the Presbyterian Home in Timaru,” they reported. “It appears these organisations are becoming

somewhat embarrassed at this generosity, knowing the doubtful legal origin of the salmon.”

. Mr Kenton said that most salmon were caught in areas that had been worked for many years by foreign trawlers, and that it was fair to assume similar numbers had been caught in the Canterbury Bight for many years before the arrival of large New Zealand-owned boats.

Smaller trawlers working close to shore and river mouths, which sports fishermen feared were catching large numbers of salmon, were too slow and used nets too small to catch many salmon, said Mr Kenton. He had worked many such vessels in the last 26 years and'-would not have .caught 50 salmon in that’time."