The 2016 earthquake caused devastation along the Kaikōura coastline. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
An autumn season is being proposed for the Kaikōura pāua fishery - along with a smaller recreational catch limit and an increased minimum pāua size.
Fisheries New Zealand today announced its proposed options for the upcoming Kaikōura recreational pāua fishing season and is asking the public for feedback.
Last December, the fishery opened for the first time in five years since the 2016 earthquake caused devastation along the coastline.
It is estimated about 40 tonne of pāua were harvested by recreational fishers during the three-month period.
The community expressed concerns after the Christmas/New Year period after hundreds of vehicles were seen parked along State Highway 1 near Kaikōura, with large groups of people in the water, gathering pāua.
Acting director of fisheries management Allen Frazer said the proposals took a precautionary approach that considered the long-term health and sustainability of the fishery, which covers the Kaikōura Marine Area and the northern coastline to Marfells Beach and Cape Campbell.
"A key part of the proposal is to move the season into a quieter time of year, the two options we are putting up for consultation are a two-month season starting in March or a three-month season starting in May."
The proposals also include lower recreational daily bag limits of five, three or two pāua per person, an increase on the minimum size limit of 125mm, and the introduction of a new vehicle and vessel limit.
"We've worked closely with Kaikōura iwi and recreational and commercial fishers to develop this package of proposals but we are aware from last season that many people travelled into Kaikōura to harvest pāua so we want to hear from those people as well."
Frazer said increasing the minimum legal size would provide greater protection for spawning biomass and align with limits for the commercial pāua fishery.
Fisheries New Zealand is also seeking feedback on whether to open the Kaikōura coastline to all other shellfish and seaweed species fishing (except bull kelp) at the same time as the recreational pāua fishery is opened.
The closed area currently applies to most other shellfish and seaweed species, except rock lobster, scampi, octopus, and kina.
Fisheries New Zealand is also proposing to permanently reopen the commercial pāua fishery year-round and retain the Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) of 23 tonnes.
Frazer said it was keen to hear from fishers whether longer-term approaches for managing recreational pāua catch at Kaikōura should be explored further, such as voluntary fisher self-reporting and/or catch tagging systems used overseas for abalone fisheries.
An independent recreational fishing survey would be carried out to allow the effectiveness of the recreational management measures to be monitored.
Consultation starts Monday 31 October and will close at 5.00pm on Wednesday, 30 November. More information, including how to submit feedback, is available on the Ministry for Primary Industries website.