MPI – FISHERIES NEWS
ENCOURAGING FINDINGS FOR ORANGE ROUGHY AND SOUTHERN BLUE WHITING
The Ministry for Primary Industries has discovered a new group of orange roughy and a southern blue whiting population according to the latest Fisheries Assessment Plenary report available online.
Key findings show a new and robust group of orange roughy on the Chatham Rise, snapper stocks on the northeast coast of the North Island are doing worse than expected, and paua stocks on the north coast of the South Island are in need of rebuilding. • Both eastern and western stocks of hoki have continued to grow over the past six years and are now within their target range.
• Southern blue whiting on the Campbell Island Rise is well above its management target and currently at a historic high.
• Gurnard around the east and south coasts of the South Island is likely to be above its management target, and the trawl survey on the west coast of the South Island is the highest since 1992.
• John Dory off the west coast of the South Island are also the highest recorded since 1992.
• Elephant fish populations around the east coast of the South Island appear to have fully rebuilt, and around the south coast of the South Island they have been continually rising since the mid-1990s.
OYANG 77 OFFICERS CHARGED
Two officers of the fishing vessel Oyang 77 have been charged with fisheries breaches while the Korean trawler was fishing in New Zealand waters from December 2010 to March this year. They were remanded to appear in court on August 16.
The Oyang 77 laid up in Lyttelton
The ship's factory manager, 42 year old Soon Ill Hwang, faces three charges of dumping barracouta, hoki, ling, and squid at sea. The captain, 39 year old Dae Jun Lee, faces a total of nine charges including: failing to report the incidental catching of two basking sharks, failing to report the catching of squid, dumping of squid, hoki, barracouta, and ling at sea, and of making a false fisheries returns relating to hoki, ling, hake, and silver warehou. The charges refer to Southern Storm Fishing (2007) Ltd which also operats the Oyang 75. The Indonesian crew of Oyang 75 walked off the boat citing mistreatment, wage issues, and poor working conditions. Their officers have been prosecuted for fisheries breaches.
VIP.S72 64 Professional Skipper September/October 2012
