Blue cod fishermen are worried about declining catch rates want quota holders to take more responsibility with the fishery and reduce the quota further to protect their livelihoods. The TAC is 1560 tonnes for the BCO 5 area, the southern blue cod fishery, but figures obtained from fishing information body FishServe show the catch rate has declined during the past 10 years to 1209 tonnes last season, well below the peak of 1556 tonnes in 2003-04.
The dramatic decline has led quota holders to agree to catch only 80 per cent of what they are entitled to in BCO 5 this season. But the fishermen are complaining as they fear that the reduction was symbolic because the quota was not being filled, and say the reduction needed to go further.
FishServe figures show the total catch last season was less than 80 per cent of the quota anyway, while two seasons ago it was just above 80 per cent. The fishermen agreed the area had a large population of juvenile cod, but believe the fishery needed more time to grow. They agree to the reduction of the quota substantially, 60 percent in the allowable catch, while others called for it to be cut to 1000 tonnes.
Southeast Finfish Management chief executive Pete Dawson, who represented quota holders and the steering group with the Fisheries Ministry, did not think the fishermen understood what was going on. Dawson said that the shelved quota was one of several things quota holders were doing to assess and manage the industry, while others included the study and looking at putting larger mesh on cod pots to catch bigger fish.
