tough too Blue cod catch rules: Fishing charter operators will be hit hard by new rules limiting recreational anglers to just two unconsumed blue cod, no matter how long anglers spend on the water, a third-generation fishing charter operator says.
Pelorus Tours co-owner Gary Orchard said blue cod was their main fish and the rules, announced by Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley yesterday, were too tough.
The rules, which will come into affect when the closed Marlborough Sounds blue cod fishery re-opens in April, include a daily bag limit of two blue cod per person.
However, each person can also only accumulate one daily bag limit while in the Sounds.
An accumulation limit of two daily bag limits has also been included in the Challenger East management area, which includes Golden and Tasman bays, the waters north of the Marlborough Sounds and the east coast south to the Clarence River.
This is to prevent anglers overfishing those areas because of restrictions in the Sounds.
Fish must also not be filleted before inspection, unless for immediate consumption.
Mr Orchard said the rules would be tough on those who wanted to do charters of more than one day. "It's very unfair for the Marlborough Sounds' tourism industry and only have one day's catch in possession for a visit."
Asked what it meant for his business, Mr Orchard said the existing ban had already made it impossible, given anglers could freely fish for cod everywhere else.
The new rules would not help because most cod caught and released would die. "I think the first three or five fish you catch, regardless of size, you keep."
Marlborough Recreational Fishers' president Tony Orman was also unhappy, particularly with the bag and fish size limits and two-hook per line rule.
He also still questioned whether the fishery was in a "dire crisis". "I would rate Stewart Island fishery as a poorer one than here."
He was pleased the "ridiculous recommendation" from the ministry-appointed Blue Cod Management Group – which developed management recommendations for Mr Heatley to consider – to limit boats to a maximum of 10 cod a day had been rejected by Mr Heatley.
Closing the fishery in spring to protect spawning was laudable, but based on guesswork, Mr Orman said.
Management group member and Soundfish chairman Eric Jorgensen said the new rules would help the fishery rebuild, particularly the accumulation limit. While it was tough on charter operators, people had to ask themselves if the fishery could handle the demand without it.
He agreed with Mr Heatley that recreational anglers needed to "bend first", before they could take the moral high ground with commercial fishing operators.
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