It is reported that the fishermen in Fiordland will have to wait another two years before they can land a blue cod due to the extension of the monitoring programme in the area. It is told that the government has monitored the low level of blue cod in Milford and Doubtful sounds since the summer of 2005-06, to find out how it responded to a ban on amateur fishing.
It is informed that the ministry and Fiordland Marine Guardians have announced the ban would continue because no clear trend in blue cod numbers had emerged. Fiordland Marine Guardians chairman Malcolm Lawson said blue cod were slow to develop to legal size, which had made data collection a slow process.
Lawson also told that next year the Guardians will undertake a review of the overall management plan of the Fiordland marine environment. He added that it will ask the public and user groups for their views on the provisions and for future management ideas. The long-term plan for the blue cod fishery would be part of the review, says Lawson.
