According to Moody Marine Ltd the New Zealand EEZ hake trawl fishery has entered full assessment and the public comments are welcome from all organisations or individuals with a direct interest in the fishery. But the information should be relevant to the status of the stock, ecosystem interactions or fishery management practices.
The location of this fishery is within the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in three management areas (HAK1, HAK4 and HAK7). Hake are widely distributed throughout the middle depths of the New Zealand EEZ, mostly south of 40°South. Adults are mainly distributed in water depths of 250–800 metres.
The fishing methods for this fishery is definitely trawl. The Ministry of Fisheries through a quota management system (QMS) based on individual transferable quotas (ITQs) managed the New Zealand hake fisheries. Within the QMS, fisheries sustainability objectives are achieved by setting a total allowable catch (TAC) that is consistent with the productivity of a fishery. TACs can be reviewed on an annual basis and a total allowable commercial catch (TACC) is then determined taking into account any recreational and customary harvesting.
It is told that there is a partnership approach to fisheries management between the Deepwater Group and the Ministry of Fisheries. The client’s share of TACC for the 2008/2009 fishing year is 12,544 tonnes, representing 95% of the total TACC for HAK1, HAK4 and HAK7.
Most of the catch of this fishery is exported to Australia, Europe, Japan, Korea and South Africa. The estimated time expected to take 11 months and is scheduled for completion in or around April 2010.
