A Hauraki Gulf campaigner and marine environmentalist is raising concerns about the effect on local billfish stocks from a fishing contest that saw 420 boats take to the waters off Whitianga over the weekend.

The Kubota Billfish Classic fishing competition, was touted by organisers as the largest of its kind in the world, with 420 boats taking to the waters across three days. It was hosted by the Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club.

Marine environmentalist Shaun Lee has raised concerns about the sustainability of the event on local billfish stocks, however, event organisers and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council say the event is sustainable

New Zealand Sport Fishing Council communications lead Mike Plant, also speaking on behalf of the Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club said the tournament structure encouraged tag and release, with only eight billfish landed over the weekend, highlighting the commitment to sustainability.

Teams competed for a share of more than $1 million in prizes – the largest sum in the competition’s history.

Fisheries New Zealand, under the umbrella of the Ministry for Primary Industries, said most recent stock status summaries from December 2023 indicated that billfish populations, including marlin and swordfish, “are very likely to be at or above the management target and that over-fishing was unlikely to be occurring”.

Lee said rising ocean temperatures were pushing billfish populations towards the poles, contributing to increased catches in New Zealand and “masking our ability to detect local population decline”.

“All local marlin species are data deficient or decreasing. The organisers of the Kubota Billfish Classic are offering prizes for the heaviest fish, knowing that large old fish produce disproportionately more eggs and sperm than younger fish, and that female billfish are larger than males.

“Blue marlin are classed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and are much larger than striped marlin.”

Regarding the tagging system of the competition, Lee said only 0.5 per cent of billfish tags – about three per year – were recaptured.

“The cheap tags are not informing population management and are a poor justification for sports fishing.”

Lee also called out game fishing as an activity which “recklessly ill-treats animals”, quoting the New Zealand Animal Welfare Act 1999, which recognised fish as sentient animals.

“The activity recklessly ill-treats animals [an offence under section 28 A of the Act], it also contravenes other sections of the act (30A1-3).

“There is a National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee guideline on how to deal with practices which are inconsistent with the spirit of the Animal Welfare Act. The guideline asks ‘is the suffering necessary’?

“The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council regulations specify light line classes so that the competition is competitive, however catching a fish by exhausting it on a light line prolongs its suffering.”

Plant said while they appreciated Lee’s commitment to marine conservation and welfare, the event provided multiple benefits for the community and environment.

“The event is just one annual occurrence, contrasting with ongoing commercial practices like bottom trawling, which have a more significant impact on the ecosystem; there is no promotion of using lighter lines to catch big game fish, and the competition rules are structured to encourage responsible fishing practices.

“The Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club, as part of the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, supports science-based assessment of animal welfare and agrees with changes to the Animal Welfare Act in 2019.

“We stand by our submissions to legislative changes, emphasising the importance of hunting and fishing to the social, economic, and cultural well-being of New Zealanders, particularly those in coastal regions,” Plant said.

He said the event provided data for scientists studying billfish migration habits, contributing to a better understanding of these species.

The fishing council, in association with Blue Water Marine Research and the New Zealand Marine Research Foundation, welcomed funding support for satellite tagging programmes to gather more data.

“Ultimately, the Kubota Billfish Classic is an important event for Whitianga, promoting ethical fishing practices, supporting the local economy, and contributing to scientific research.

“We are committed to addressing concerns and continually improving our practices to ensure restored abundance of our fisheries and sustainable fishing for future generations.”

Simon Lawrence, director of science and information for Fisheries New Zealand said billfish, such as species of marlin and swordfish, were a highly migratory pelagic species and were managed in the western and central Pacific Ocean by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Regular stock assessments and management measures for the central Pacific were published online.

“As a member of the WCPFC we work alongside other Pacific nations to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of highly migratory fish stocks, such as tunas, billfish, and marlin in the western and central Pacific Ocean.

“In New Zealand waters, swordfish are managed under the quota management system with a commercial catch limit and allowances set for recreational and customary take.

“The most recent stock status summary published in December 2023 indicates swordfish are very likely to be at or above the management target and that overfishing is unlikely to be occurring.

“Marlin are managed outside of the quota management system and a commercial moratorium is in place, which means commercial fishers must return striped, blue, and black marlin to the sea unless the fish is tagged. Any tagged marlin must be handed over to a fishery officer.”

In the Auckland and Kermadec area, which included the Coromandel, swordfish and marlin were part of the combined recreational daily bag limit of 20 finfish, he said.

“We know climate change and marine heatwaves can impact fish stocks. This is a complex and developing matter and the exact way fish stocks are affected is not fully understood.

“Distribution and abundance of fish will naturally fluctuate with changes to water temperature, for example we know snapper are being found a lot further south than before.

“Some fish will do better with warmer waters, while others will head to cooler, deeper waters. For southern bluefin tuna, increased abundance and climatic factors may be contributing to changing distribution in New Zealand waters. The stock has been increasing at around 5 per cent per year globally since 2009.”

Fisheries New Zealand has an extensive scientific research programme which included tagging studies.

“These studies provide important scientific information on the distribution of fish stocks, migration patterns, growth, and behaviour of individual fish which helps inform fisheries management decisions.

“We work closely with all recreational fishers including those affiliated with the New Zealand Sports Fishing Council. Fisheries New Zealand has a billfish and gamefish tagging project, which has been ongoing since 1975.

“We are aware that there are shortcomings in all citizen science including tagging programmes, such as tag shedding, and we factor this into our modelling.

“New Zealand fishers catch and tag some of the biggest striped marlin in the world, and these tags have been known to turn up on fish caught by commercial fishers in the Pacific.”

The Hauraki-Coromandel Post also approached the Department of Conservation for comment since its logo can be seen on a sign in several pictures taken at the event.

DoC team leader for brand and marketing Lisa Nilsen said the “old sandwich-board style sign”, illustrated in tournament photographs, predated “DoC’s current approach to management of its brand and logo”.

“We suspect this sign has been dug out from a cupboard for the purposes of the competition. The version of the DoC logo shown is from the late 1980s, early 1990s.

“The use of the DoC logo in this way isn’t something we’d generally allow without a good conversation and agreement with the people or organisation wanting to use our brand; we’ve not been able to locate a written or digital record of agreement for the logo to be used on the club’s sign.

“We’re happy to have a chat to the game fishing club about use of our logo in future, but we’ll be asking them to retire this sign and consign it to history.”

Al Williams is the editor of the HC Post, based in Whangamata. He has worked in daily and community newspapers in New Zealand and overseas. Most recently he was the deputy editor of Cook Islands News.

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