Blue moki management

Blue moki management
Blue moki 3 (MOK 3)
Introduction Blue moki is a popular table fish taken by shorebased anglers, set netters and spear fishers around the South Island and lower half of the North Island. Blue moki has high cultural value to coastal communities, so when the Ministry for Primary Industries proposed to increase commercial catch limits, on the basis that the fishing industry has overcaught their quota since 2010, we said no way! MPI are incentivising overcatch by rewarding commercial fishers who exceed their limits, with extra quota. What's more MPI propose to confiscate the recreational allowance and make it available to quota holders. A reasonable recreational allowance would be around 50 tonnes. MPI propose 5 or 10 tonnes. Since the 2008 set net ban recreational fishers on the southeast coast have been denied safe, inshore access to blue moki to feed their family. They now watch as commercial fishers return to shore with boat loads of overcatch.
Submission and recommendations A comprehensive submission has been made against the proposals. The submission also includes solutions to address some serious management concerns. Read the blue moki 3 submission here... Our recommendations are: That no change to blue moki 3 catch limits be made at this time as there is no measure of abundance. Prior to any catch limit increase the Ministry for Primary Industries must urgently undertake at-sea catch research to establish a more reliable estimate of blue moki 3 mortality and catch at age.

Headliners

MPI propose to increase the quota limit for blue moki 3 because commercial fishers have exceeded their catch limits by 25%.

Moki are long lived and vulnerable to overfishing. LegaSea advocates a precautionary management approach be taken when managing this important fishery.

Download a quickfire summary of our blue moki 3 submission here...

Want more?

To find out even more, visit the NZ Sport Fishing Council website and read in-depth info about management of our Blue moki 3 South Island fishery.

Your valued support

If you appreciate the value of this work we would welcome your contribution. It's an easy process that we hope you will follow in the interests of achieving the LegaSea Vision of 'more fish in the water for future generations'.

You can contribute here » » »

Your input welcome

With LegaSea the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council is committed to developing similar quality submissions for other important stocks. As funds increase there will be more opportunities to focus on different fisheries. LegaSea contributors are welcome to suggest fisheries that need attention. You can email us with your suggestions.

Felix Wenzel, Steves Fishing Shop, Wellington.

Click on the image to read more on the NZ Sport Fishing Council website.

Blue moki

Photo credit: New Zealand Fishing News

If you want to know more about blue moki and how to catch them read this article originally published in New Zealand Fishing News. The article features tips and techniques on how and when to catch blue moki.

Thanks to NZ Fishing News and fishing.net!

Blue moki management

Blue moki 3 (MOK 3)