In pre-European times the Maori was a subsistence fisherman, catching marine fish with seine nets made of flax, or with lines; eels and lampreys with pots set in weirs; and whitebait and other species in nets. Shellfish were collected from the beaches and the shore. Prior to European settlement whales and seals were taken, seals between 1816 and 1840, by which time they had almost disappeared. The first shore whaling station was established in 1827, and in 1844 whale oil and other products were valued at some £50,000 on the London markets. Following European settlement, fishing for demersal species expanded as the population increased, the industry at first providing fish for local consumption only but, later, for export as well.
Today, trawling, Danish seining, and fishing by nets and by lines are the principal methods of taking the ordinary marine food fish, while crayfish are mainly caught in baskets or pots, and oysters, mussels, and scallops are taken in dredges. Other fishing methods are used in the case of whitebait which are taken in special nets in the lower reaches of many rivers, whereas rock oysters, paua, and toheroa are picked by hand. Together all these products and the merchandising of them comprise the fishing industry. The whaling industry with one station in Marlborough at Tory Channel, has ceased operations.
Up to 31 December 1963 there was in operation a system of restrictive licensing of fishing vessels, directed by the Sea Fisheries Licensing Authority appointed under the Fisheries Amendment Act of 1945. Following extensive inquiry by a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1962, the licensing procedure was changed to one of registration and permit using management as basis for conservation of stocks.
Part I of the Fisheries Act deals more specifically with the commercial aspects of fishing, and the following regulations set out in detail the controls imposed. The Commercial Fishing Regulations, 1963 deal with the conditions mainly applying to registration and permits. The Fisheries (General) Regulations 1950 include provisions covering net fishing, line fishing, trawling, Danish seining, crayfishing and, in fact, all those matters other than what is dealt with in the special regulations listed below covering separate fisheries. These are the Oyster Fishing Regulations of 1946; the Toheroa Regulations of 1955; and the Whitebait Regulations of 1964. At present seals are totally protected under the Seal Fishing Regulations of 1946, while whaling is covered by the Whaling Industry Act of 1935 and the Whaling Industry Regulations of 1961. Provisions of the Shipping and Seaman Act relating to survey requirements and to the manning scale apply, in particular cases, to fishing boats.
The Fishing Industry Board Act of 1963 provided for the establishment of a Fishing Industry Board which came into force on 1 April 1964. This Board, with the functions and powers granted to it under the Act, will seek generally to promote the expansion and the efficiency of the fishing industry and to promote the export of quality fish and fish products. The Board consists of seven members, three of whom represent the three sections of the industry: fishermen, wholesalers, and retailers, and four independent members, one of whom is the chairman.
The fishing industry in New Zealand is based mainly on demersal species and is confined to the continental shelf which in many places is comparatively narrow. Prevailing westerly winds and the paucity of good harbours on the west coast are natural features which have encouraged greater concentrations of fishing boats and fishing activities on the east coast. The class of vessel found most suitable for New Zealand conditions is the motor trawler from 40–60 ft in length, and these vessels at times range many hundreds of miles in the course of their fishing. Technical advances such as the radio telephone, refrigeration, more powerful and more reliable engines, and electronic fishing aids are responsible for the increased range of fishing activities in recent years. In some ports the vessels still operate mainly on the daily basis but usually, where trawling is concerned and in all vessels fitted with freezers, the trips extend to a week at a time, while some refrigerated crayfish vessels in the southern part of New Zealand do trips of approximately one to two months' duration.
In 1964 there were 1,567 licensed fishing vessels and 2,744 fishermen employed in the industry. Of these vessels 270 were motor trawlers, 12 were Danish seiners, and 1,242 line and net boats; 19 boats were licensed to dredge oysters, 18 of which were for Foveaux Strait, and 19 boats were licensed in various ports to take mussels. 659 vessels were licensed for crayfishing, while 117 were licensed for other industries including pauas and scallops. Vessels normally are licensed for more than one method of fishing.
Trawlers landed 77 per cent and Danish seiners 4 per cent of the total wet fish, while 12 per cent was caught by lines and 7 per cent by set and drag nets.
Since 1951, when the total landed catch was 408,365 cwt, the total quantity landed has gradually increased until in 1964 it was 589,384 cwt. The principal species have been snapper and tarakihi which together comprise approximately 50 per cent of the total quantity landed. The approximate percentages of the most abundant species are as follows:
| Snapper 27 | Trevally 8 | Elephant fish 4 |
| Tarakihi 20 | Blue cod 4 | Sole 3 |
| Gurnard 13 | Hapuku 5 | Flounder 2 |
Apart from blue cod and hapuku which are mainly line caught, the other species referred to are taken principally by trawling. Snapper occur mainly from Tasman Bay northwards on the west coast to North Cape, and southwards on the east coast from North Cape to Napier in the water out to about 40 fathoms. Tarakihi occur principally in the waters beyond 40 fathoms and are taken mainly off the east coast from the Bay of Plenty to Dunedin. The sea is shallower on the west coast, where fishing takes place, and this could be the reason why catches of tarakihi have not been so great. Gurnard, too, has a general distribution in the shallower waters, but show particularly in the commercial catch at Napier and Timaru. Elephant fish, which occur principally in the South Island east coast waters, form the basis of an important trawl fishery in the Canterbury area, both to the north and to the south of Banks Peninsula.
Blue cod and hapuku, which are mainly associated with rocky bottoms, are caught principally by line methods. Cook Strait is the principal centre of the hapuku fishery, but this species is caught also at many other localities, including Akaroa. The Bluff-Stewart Island area and also the Chatham Islands are the principal line-fishing areas for blue cod.
The production of flatfish species is confined to the shallower waters. Flounders are taken by set nets in the Kaipara Harbour, in the Firth of Thames, and in Lake Ellesmere, while they form a significant part of the trawl catch in the shallower waters along the Canterbury coast. There is also a significant flounder fishery at Te Waewae Bay in Southland and, where the bottom is suitable, in the vicinity of Waikawa. Lemon soles are the major commercial trawl fishery on the Otago coast. English soles predominate in the areas off Greymouth and also Hawke Bay.
Ports where landings were in excess of 10,000 cwt of wet fish and the principal species landed; i.e., in excess of 5,000 cwt (1964 production figures):
| Ports | Total Landings (cwt) | Hundredweight of Principal Species | |||||
| Auckland | 133,424 | Sn | 86,052 | TV | 19,817 | Ta | 9,854 |
| Timaru | 56,961 | G | 14,406 | EF | 12,304 | Ta | 13,076 |
| Gisborne | 55,697 | Ta | 33,606 | Sn | 6,056 | ||
| Wellington | 45,340 | Ta | 20,727 | H | 6,446 | ||
| Napier | 43,296 | G | 11,094 | Ta | 9,590 | Sn | 5,658 |
| Lyttelton | 36,048 | G | 11,463 | Ta | 8,077 | EF | 5,407 |
| Manukau | 35,756 | Sn | 15,204 | TV | 8,372 | G | 6,234 |
| Tauranga | 27,437 | Ta | 10,922 | Sn | 8,897 | ||
| Nelson | 18,063 | Sn | 7,535 | ||||
| Thames | 14,055 | Sn | 7,630 | ||||
| Port Chalmers | 12,416 | So | 4,224 | ||||
| Bluff | 11,635 | BC | 8,127 | ||||
| Akaroa | 11,868 | G | 4,888 | ||||
| Chatham Islands | 10,579 | BC | 9,744 |
Sn = Snapper; TV = Trevally; Ta = Tarakihi; H = Hapuku; EF = Elephant fish; G = Gurnard; BC = Blue cod; So = Sole.
This fishery is based on the catching of juvenile or larval form of the inanga or adult whitebait as they enter the rivers from the sea. The area where most commercial fishing is done is now confined to the west coast of the South Island, and it is for this area only that records of catches are kept.
Where conditions are suitable, crayfish occur right round the New Zealand coast and the commercial catch is predominantly the one species Jasus lalandii. A less common species, J. verreauxi, is taken commercially mainly in the vicinity of Mercury Bay, but isolated specimens do occur in most North Island waters. Although occasionally some catches of crayfish are made in trawls, the method universally adopted is fishing with baskets or pots. This fishery has expanded very considerably since 1947, when an export market for the tails developed with the U.S.A., and it has become the most valuable single species landed. The southern and south-western parts of the South Island produce over 60 per cent of the total catch. Fishing is done by boats from Bluff and Stewart Island, and also from Dunedin, Westport, and Greymouth. The total catch of crayfish increased rapidly from 1947 to a peak in 1956 when 130,815 cwt were landed. It has since declined quite appreciably but in areas where the fishery has been long established production is relatively steady.
In Foveaux Strait the dredge oysters, which are the most abundant and most important shellfish species, are taken mainly from depths of 10–18 fathoms and the production over the last two seasons has been approximately 100,000 sacks p.a. The production of the rock oyster fishery, on the other hand, which is confined to the intertidal zone in the Auckland area – the Hauraki Gulf, Whangarei Harbour, Kaipara Harbour, and Bay of Islands – averages 4,000 sacks p.a.
The principal mussel fishery, with an annual production of 25,000 sacks, is confined to the Hauraki Gulf. Toheroas are found on beaches of the west coast of North Auckland, on the Wellington west coast at Waitarere, at Ohope in the Bay of Plenty, and also in Southland at Oreti Beach and in Te Waewae Bay. Stocks are not good and only small quantities are canned in the two months open season. Paua and scallops are both taken commercially in small quantities.
Within the last three years there have been renewed efforts, with some success, to develop eel fisheries, mainly in the Auckland area and in Canterbury at Lake Ellesmere.
Principal among these is fish oil. In 1963, 269,272 Ib of liver were processed and produced 16,952 gals, of oil. The canning industry has also made considerable use of the less popular kinds of fish which are processed as pet foods. Whale meat is also incorporated in this product.
Frozen and prepared fish and frozen crayfish tails comprise the most important exports of fishery products. The total value of fishery products exported in 1963 was £1,475,450.
Imports are confined to canned and prepared fish, mainly salmon, sardines and herrings. The quantity imported fluctuates from year to year and in 1963 was valued at £995,867.
A research programme has been formulated and is being prosecuted to provide information to assist with the development and management of the fishery resources. In this programme, work is being done on snapper and tarakihi to determine their habits and life history, growth rate and natural mortality, as well as to assess the effect of fishing on the various populations. Considerable numbers of snapper and tarakihi have been tagged but recoveries have been rather disappointing, although returns are sufficient to indicate the principal migrations and to confirm growth rates determined by other methods. Similar work has been done on flatfish populations in Lake Ellesmere, Tasman Bay, and on the east coast of the South Island. A comprehensive study of crayfish, to elucidate their habits, life history, growth rates, mortality, and effects of fishing is under way, and similar work is being done on elephant fish. Work on shellfish, other than oysters, has so far been confined to studies of the composition and density of the various populations.
At present, an extensive biological survey of the Foveaux Strait oysters is under way. With respect to whales, work has been confined to tagging whales on the northward and southward migration and to studying the age composition of the catches of the whaling stations. This research has now ceased.
The occurrence of tuna in New Zealand waters is also receiving attention with a view to determining whether the fishing and canning of tuna could be developed in New Zealand.
In recent years, due mainly to the activity of Japanese fishing vessels around New Zealand coasts, the Government was urged to increase the area of sea within which only New Zealand registered or New Zealand based vessels would be permitted to operate. These representations were acted upon in the session of 1965 when a Bill was introduced into Parliament defining the limits of New Zealand's 3-mile territorial sea in accordance with the rules laid down in the 1958 Geneva Convention, and providing for the establishment of a further 9-mile exclusive fishing zone for the use of the domestic industry.
| Nomenclature | |
| Blue cod | Parapercis colias |
| Eels (short finned) | Anguilla australis |
| Eels (long finned) | Anguilla dieffenbachii |
| Elephant fish | Callorhynchus milii |
| Flounder (dab) | Rhombosolea plebeia |
| ,, (yellowbelly) | Rhombosolea leporina |
| ,, (black) | Rhombosolea retiaria |
| ,, (greenback) | Rhombosolea tapirina |
| Gurnard | Trigla kumu |
| Hapuku (groper) | Polyprion oxygeneios |
| Snapper | Chrysophrys auratus |
| Sole (lemon) | Pelotretis flavilatus |
| ,, (English) | Peltorhamphus novaezealandiae |
| Tarakihi | Cheilodactylus macropterus |
| Trevally | Caranx lutescens |
| Whitebait | Galaxias attennuatus |
| Oyster (rock) | Saxostrea glomerata |
| ,, (dredged) | Ostrea sinuata |
| Mussel | Mytilus canaliculus |
| Toheroa | Amphidesma ventricosum |
| Crayfish (spiny) | Jasus lalandii |
| ,, (green) | Jasus verreauxi |
| Paua | Haliotis iris. |
by Brian Turnbull Cunningham, B.SC., Senior Fishery Officer, Marine Department, Wellington.