Trawlerwoman’s strong views on how to help the fishing industry

Press, 13 October 1982, Page 21

Trawlerwoman’s strong views on how to help the fishing industry

By

PETER COMER

Deb O'Donnell is a far cry from the grizzled, weatherbeaten fisherman of popular fancv.

Yet. at 23. she is as happy in seaboots and oilskins on the heaving deck of a trawler as she is in front of a crowd of students at Lincoln College, lecturing in economics.

Miss O'Donnell's research into the problems and potential of New Zealand's fishing industry is backed by a year working out of Wellington on the 22-metre trawler Cerego, and three months on other boats.

That gave her a practical understanding of fishing and its problems - plus an abiding love of the life. Miss O’Donnell decided to switch her training as an agricultural economist to the farming of the sea, and developed strong ideas on how to help the industry, particularly in provision of fishing consultants and extension services, development of alternative inshore fisheries, and licensing. Logically, she joined the Fishing Industry Board, but left after only three months.

Was she disillusioned? "Highly. They just don't have any feel for the industry they are supposed-to be helping.” In Miss O'Donnell’s year as a trawlerwoman, she was surprised to find that almost half of the Cerego’s catch was thrown away because of lack of consumer demand. She points out that species discarded at one port will

command high prices in another port, and vice versa. “For instance, red cod. gurnard and some sharks are highly valued in Christchurch but discarded in Wellington. Warehou is expensive in Wellington, but often unsaleable in Christchurch,” says Miss O'Donnell.

A lack of processing facilities results in wholesalers putting pressure on fishermen to discard some species when there is an over-supply on the fresh fish market. Other species, such as mackerel. kahawai, and barracoota are acceptable only in ports with good processing facilities, she says. “Sadly, my own favourite species, grenadier and scarpi. are tossed away in all ports.” says Miss O’Donnell. She concludes that discarded species are largely a marketing problem.

However. Miss O’Donnell's research has convinced her that New Zealand’s domestic fishing industry is highly efficient .compared both with foreign fisheries and with other New Zealand industries.

In hauling $6O million worth of bluefin tuna from New Zealand's waters annually, the Japanese use big vessels with crews of 23 men and run out 120 km of line a day to catch, on average, eight fish a day. In contrast, says Miss O’Donnell, fishermen on the South Island’s West Coast have invented their own

technique using only small boats and three crew to catch the same eight fish a day, with no difference in quality. New Zealanders pioneered stern trawling and other countries followed on. Manning levels on New Zealand boats are still only half those on British trawlers the same size.

Miss O’Donnell points to a recent report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research which estimated the effective rate of protection for manufacturing to be 36 per cent, agriculture to be minus 5 per cent, and fishing and hunting to be minus 13 per cent. “If all quota and tariff protection was dropped, the fisherman’s costs would fall by 13 per cent,” says Miss O’Donnell. “As fishing has a high income and cost, structure, a 13 per cent drop in costs would probably result in an increase in net income of about 60 per cent. By comparison, in agriculture a 13 per cent drop in costs would probably raise net. income by about 20 per cent.” Although New Zealand fishermen are undoubtedly efficient, there remains the pressing problem of protecting the handful of over-fished and highly valued species such as snapper, terakihi, groper, and sole.

“We already have a problem of over-capitalisation in some inshore fisheries. Development aimed at taking pressure off the traditional fisheries will fail if the size of the fleet can continue to grow, so licensing is necessary to freeze the level of capital and labour in the industry.”

Miss O'Donnell fears that the present moratorium preventing entry to the fishing industry will be followed by legislation to cut the numbers of fishermen and boats.

“This might achieve resource conservation and increase profits for the remaining fishermen, but it would fail to foster efficiency. social equity, or national economic objectives.”

She believes that overfished species could still be protected if the present fishing effort was extended across a wider range of species, areas, and methods. Alternative fishing techniques, catching fewer fish but presenting them in better quality for sale, could also increase the value of the present catch. “Lining methods usually land lower volumes, but yield better quality and use less fuel. One Northland firm has developed a reputation in Japan for line-caught snapper a price

of $4.60 a kilogram whole, compared with $1.55 a kilogram from premium grade trawler-caught snapper,” she said.

Miss O'Donnell believes that a potential bonanza awaits New Zealand fishermen in the form of species they have so far ignored. She says the Fishing Industry Board's fisheries development plan has estimated that half of the S6OM bluefin tuna harvest reaped annually by the Japanese could be taken by the New Zealand inshore ■fleet.

Unfortunately, fishermen on the east coast of the South Island are largely unaware of the techniques invented by their West Coast counterparts, and of the closeness of the lucrative bluefin.

“Again, half of the Japanese, Korean, and joint venture catch is estimated to be accessible to the domestic fleet,” says Miss O’Donnell. “Unfortunately, the existing squid jigging method needs a big vessel to cast enough shadow, so current policy is aimed at ‘New Zealandising’ the joint venture squid jiggers.

“I believe this 2500-year-old technique is akin to pulling ploughs with oxen, and it seems likely that inshore vessels could develop a more efficient technique while maintaining quality levels. Perhaps aimed mid-water trawls would work.” New Zealand boats are exploring inshore orange

roughy grounds but are missing out on the hake resource by sticking to their traditional bottom trawling. Foreign vessels are catching more hake by deep midwater trawling, in which New Zealand skippers have no experience.

Even the lowly octopus, at present kicked out through the scuppers of New Zealand trawlers, has been suggested as having a market in Europe as strong as the market for squid in Japan.

In Miss O'Donnell's view, the well-known fisheries research vessel W. J. Scott is a rather expensive research tool. A more cost-effective approach would be to give support to private vessels for trials in new grounds, techniques, and species. “Discussion groups would probably work well in fisheries. Fishermen are generally secretive about fishing grounds but they will readily discuss fishing methods and are willing to take good advice from other fishermen. Compared with farmers, they are more ready to take business risks and try new ideas." She is convinced that a lack of extension services and training has badly hampered development of New Zealand's fishing industry, and that appointment of some fisheries consultants is vital. “There are no fisheries advisory officers. By comparison, horticulture, an in-

dustry of the same size, has 60 advisory officers and forestry has 33,” she says. "When I was trawling we were unable to' get information and support for fisheries development. Now, on the other side of the fence, my fisheries economics research work is hampered because the results cannot be readily fed into the industry.”

She believes that six to 10 fisheries consultants — ideally plucked from the 79strong fisheries inspection force — would be enough to generate higher production and better use of resources. "There are 79 fisheries inspectors whose main task is law enforcement, yet the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries claims that their job is primarily educational. “This is surprising when the agricultural section of the Ministry says it learnt 20 years ago not to mix enforcement with education.

Dairy farmers are no longer expected to seek advice from dairy shed inspectors, sheep farmers undertaking land development need not consult weed control officers, and fishermen should not be expected to consult fisheries inspectors. Anyway, the inspectors lack the background to be helpful."

Miss O’Donnell says the M.A.F. has 18 fisheries management officers — scientists employed for resource protection — but fishermen have told her that they have never met or been helped by a fisheries management officer.

Ideally, a fisheries consultant would provide information on catches, prices, techniques, resources, and equipment, provide financial, accounting, and business expertise, organise ways of communicating ideas, such as meetings, discussion groups, seminars and media

reports, plus,provide a link between the industry and its management.

“Management believes we should be developing the new fisheries and using new techniques, but we are working in a vacuum without good information and support services." says Miss O’Donnell.

Although the fisheries extension services that are available are “generally excellent" — law enforcement, marine biology, the Nelson polytechnic cadet course and gear unit, fish trade fairs, and the fisheries magazines — Miss O’Donnell believes that they are not enough. A comparable industry such as horticulture has many more support services. Fisheries management has its own problems.

“Their staff are recruited from agriculture, the icecream business, computing, teaching, law enforcement — everywhere except fisheries

because there is no formal fisheries management training in New Zealand. More serious is that management does not appear to regard this as a problem.” Formal training is also needed in skippering inshore and offshore vessels, in the same way as Lincoln and Massey colleges provide training for farmers. Deb O’Donnell is now working to finish a census of skippers of boats more than 12 metres (40ft) in length in Timaru, Oamaru, and Dunedin, on fisheries development. But the lure of the sea is strong and she expects to be back trawling again in a couple of months, this time out of New Plymouth.

“I will be carrying on with my work but I feel I can be more productive out there than in the Fishing Industry Board or the M.A.F.,” said Miss O’Donnell.