Major New Kingfish Tagging Programme Launched

Media Release

02 August 2010

Major New Kingfish Tagging Programme Launched

The newly rediscovered Top of the South kingfish fishery is developing into one of national significance and could end up as the best in the country, providing spectacular sport for fishers.

The Fishing Paper wants to help guarantee the future of the local fishery and is leading the way by launching a local tagging programme.

The Fishing Paper Editor Daryl Crimp says this is an opportunity for local recreational fishers to lead from the front and manage this spectacular fishery for the future, by joining The Fishing Paper tag team.

On the back of the Marlborough Sounds blue cod closure this is a major initiative. The closure of this once iconic fishery is salutary lessons that if we don’t all act responsibly, fish resources ultimately face depletion and possible collapse.

Crimpy says there aren’t any other options. Recreational fishers need to bite the bullet and lead by example. “Any newly discovered fishery faces pressure as its popularity grows and how we manage that pressure will determine how it survives.”

He says the big fish are always the first to go from a fishery in its infancy. Regrettably they’re the oldest and most difficult to recruit back into the area.

Crimpy says while there is a three kingfish daily bag limit, some fishers have opted for a one fish per person, or a boat limit in order to protect the resource. Compared to the iconic blue cod, which has a daily limit of three per person in the Marlborough Sounds region, a single kingfish can supply the same meat value as 20 to 30 cod.

So to promote the sustainability of the Top of the South fishery, The Fishing Paper is leading a tagging initiative by funding and coordinating its start up. Initially, three Specialist Tag Centres have been set up in key locations to provide tags, loan applicators and guidance.

Those centres are Coppins Outdoors in Motueka, Stirling Sports in Richmond and Hendersons in Blenheim.

This gamefish tagging programme is a cooperative project between the Ministry of Fisheries, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, its affiliated clubs and anglers, commercial fishers and the current fisheries research provider, Blue Water Marine Research Ltd.

There have been about 16,000 kingfish tagged and released in New Zealand since the programme started in 1975. Most of them have been released in east Northland and the Bay of Plenty. There have been 1,200 recaptures reported, a recapture rate of 7.5%.

Cooperative tagging programmes provide information on the size and distribution of fish released by recreational fishers. Recaptures provide information on distance and direction of movement; time at liberty, and in some circumstances growth rates of the fish involved.

It’ll provide marine scientists a huge insight into the dynamics of kingfish and provide local anglers a better picture of how our local fishery works.

As an added incentive, The Fishing Paper is encouraging fishers who tag kingfish to send in their photos and go in the draw for prizes each month, and to ensure the local programme can continue into the future, we’ll also be seeking long term corporate and business sponsorship.

ends

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