ROBOT SPIES IN FIORDLAND A REMOTE OPERATED Vehicle is being used to assess 20 areas within Fiordland currently designated as anchoring sites for tourist cruise ships. The ROV footage captured new species and previously undescribed habitats after only one week. Large areas of horny coral fans, rare and protected fragile red coral, sponges, sea pens, large black coral trees over a metre tall that provide shelter to large numbers of rock lobsters, and dense schools of butterfly perch and other fish, were found along with dozens of sill communities new to science including sponges, sea pens, corals, sea squirts and sea cucumbers. The fiords were formed by glaciers some 20,000 years ago and are characterised by basins up to 300m deep, with one or more rocky sills that mark the seaward extent of the former glaciers. Some fiords have several sills along their length and, because they tend to be relatively shallow at less than 50m, they are potential anchoring sites for cruise ships that have to anchor in roughly 50m of water. Ninety cruise ship visits are expected in Fiordland next year and this number is expected to increase. New anchoring sites will need to be identified by Environment Southland and NIWA using sonar.
Deep Sea Research
NIWA'S RESEARCH VESSEL Tangaroa has recently been exploring the biodiversity of deep-sea habitats in the outer Bay of Plenty and southern Kermadec Ridge, starting 80 kilometres off Tauranga.
The scientists are studying habitats between 700 and 1500 metres to assess their similarities surveying seamounts, hydrothermal vents, canyons and the continental slope to determine if each has unique faunal elements. "This will improve our understanding of the connections between these habitats, which can help management of the environment, for activities like fishing," said Dr Malcolm Clark. This is the second survey in the research programme, the first was carried out on the Hikurangi margin near Cook Strait in 2010. The information obtained from the
two surveys will be analysed to determine the overall vulnerability patterns and be used in ecological risk assessments for environmental management agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Longfin eel educators need educating
VICTOR THOMPSON, CHAIRMAN of the South Island Eel Industry Association, said that it was time for the education system to rid themselves of frauds masquerading as experts on longfin eels after Dr Mike Joy, a senior lecturer at Massey University called for a ban on commercial fishing of longfin eels because migrating adults were being killed in water screens and intakes, and pollution was destroying their habitat. Thompson said, "This has nothing to do with commercial fishing, perhaps Massey University should leave fisheries management to the experts, rather than waste scarce student resources trying to undo all the hard work we have put into maintaining a sustainable fishery."
Eel fisheries have already collapsed in Europe, North America and Japan as a consequence of overfishing glass eels. Catching glass eels is banned in New Zealand, and Thompson said that commercial eel fishermen were leading the campaign to ensure that the ban continued and were particularly upset that Joy and his Massey University colleagues had not updated themselves on the latest independent scientific reports, "These wreckers need to learn what the Quota Management System is all about, and understand that commercial and customary fishery managers are working very hard to ensure that our valuable longfin eel fishery does not go the same way as those of the Northern Hemisphere."
July/August 2012 Professional Skipper 41
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