Fishing groups warn reopening Whangārei Harbour could undo four years of scallop recovery

Recreational fishing groups say reopening Whangārei Harbour’s scallop beds could undo four years of recovery efforts.

The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, LegaSea, New Zealand Angling and Casting Association and New Zealand Underwater Association lodged a joint 10-page submission in the Government’s consultation, which closed last Friday.

The group voted in favour of the only option proposed by Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones to keep the scallop fishery closed.

The minister’s consultation asked the public to choose between three options:

• Retain the current closure until wider management approaches are finalised for the Northland (SCA 1) and Hauraki Gulf and Coromandel (SCA CS) scallop fisheries.
• Allow a limited recreational scallop fishing season this spring or summer in Whangārei Harbour, supported by a prohibition on dredging.
• Allow ongoing seasonal recreational scallop fishing every year from spring 2027 or summer 2028, supported by changes to fishing rules.

Speaking to the Northern Advocate from the 70th Sport Fishing Council AGM on Friday, LegaSea representative Katie Goodwin said the issue was a major talking point there.

“It’s an important topic and a lot of people are passionate about scallops ... Everyone’s keen to see more scallops in the water,” Goodwin said.

While acknowledging encouraging signs from recent surveys, Goodwin said the groups believed the SCA 1 fishery, which stretches from Ahipara to Cape Rodney, should be managed as a whole.

The joint submission argues there is not enough scientific information to determine how connected scallop beds are throughout northeastern New Zealand and warns harvesting in the harbour could weaken recovery efforts elsewhere.

Scallops are broadcast spawners, releasing larvae that drift on tides and currents before settling elsewhere, Goodwin said.

Preliminary modelling suggests scallop populations once formed a large, interconnected network, with larvae moving between many beds.

“Those three beds could be providing important restocking beds well beyond it in the wider fishery,” Goodwin said.

The organisations are urging Jones to wait for the results of a wider 2027 biomass survey before considering any reopening.

Their submission also calls for an alternative management system for Northland and Coromandel scallop fisheries. The current quota management framework has failed to prevent the decline of scallop stocks, the groups said.

“Like all New Zealanders, our members would love to be back in the water gathering scallops. But we are not prepared to trade four years of recovery for another boom-and-bust cycle and the future of SCA 1.

“We would rather wait until there is clear evidence of recovery across the whole of SCA 1, and an alternative management strategy in place before any reopening decision is made,” Goodwin said.

Meanwhile, Whangārei marine industry businessman George Culley has backed a limited reopening of the harbour scallop fishery under stricter controls.

Culley, the chief executive of Sea Harvester Tackle, has proposed a two-month season from October 1 to November 30, with the daily recreational limit halved from 20 scallops to 10 per person and a maximum vessel limit of 50 scallops every 24 hours.

He and the recreational groups support a ban on dredging.

Culley said he had discussed his proposals with fisheries officials and Government MPs earlier this year and canvassed his customers.

He believed tighter rules would make the fishery more sustainable while still allowing public access.

“For too long people have taken too many scallops either out of Whangārei or out of the Kaipara,” Culley said.

“We just need to make it a bit more sustainable or a lot more sustainable.”

He wanted the scallop beds shut by December “before the Aucklanders get up here, to be bluntly honest”.

Scallop shells on Reotahi Beach. Photo / NZME

Culley said he was prepared to lose sales of scallop dredges if it helped protect the fishery.

He has also proposed wider fisheries reforms, including requiring overseas visitors to buy fishing licences.

He suggested licences could be purchased online or through an app and would be available in one-day, two-day or weekly formats.

Culley pointed to freshwater licences already required here to fish for trout and said wider fishing licence fees were common overseas and unlikely to discourage tourists. He noted a week-long fishing licence in Canada had cost him about CAD$190 ($235), a small expense compared with the $4000 cost of travelling there.

“If you’re a visitor, there’s no way you should be able to walk down to our beach and take our seafood at no cost.”

“If you don’t have a licence to gather seafood or fish saltwater in this country, it’s an instant $500 fine. That gets linked back to the border; that means you can’t leave the country until that fine is paid. We live in a digital society, it’s something that can be done, it’s not hard,” Culley said.

Revenue from the licences could help fund compliance, education programmes and marine conservation initiatives, he said.

Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ journalism experience, much of it court reporting in Gisborne.