Fishing by the rules

With so many people fishing, it is easy to see why there is a need for rules that help to make sure there are enough fish to go around.

Recreational catch is regulated by a range of rules. Some set out how much a person can take each day – known as the daily bag limit. Others set minimum size limits, or limit the fishing methods that can be used. They are made to be simple, and usually apply to a wide geographic area.

There are recreational rules for the five different geographic areas – Auckland and Kermadec, Central, Southern Region, Challenger, and Fiordland. These areas have many fish species and conditions in common. The rules vary slightly from region to region to reflect the abundance of fish and how fishers tend to catch them.

The Ministry publishes information on fishing rules, but it is the responsibility of each fisher to make sure they know what they are before heading out to fish.

Recreational fishing rules are reviewed on a regular basis, particularly when there are signs that a fish stock or area may be under stress. However, with lots of people chasing fish in popular coastal areas, there can be depletion. This happens particularly with species that mostly stay in the same area, like shellfish, rock lobster, blue cod and hāpuka/bass. But, fishing pressure can also affect the sustainability of some popular species that range over a larger area, such as snapper and kingfish. Where this happens, rules are changed to reduce the numbers of fish caught.

Commercial fishers must have a current fishing permit and are subject to strict quotas or limits on how much they can catch, whereas the restrictions on recreational fishers are relatively simple.

The three key things to remember are:

• Don’t take more than the daily limit
• Don’t take under-sized fish
• Don’t sell or trade your catch.

Only those people physically involved in taking finfish and rock lobster can take catch up to the daily limit. The same goes for shellfish with the exception of scallops. Divers collecting scallops can take additional daily quota for up to two safety people per vessel. Below are examples of daily bag limits, minimum size limits and gear restrictions.

Fishing rules for each region are available from MFish offices or at fish.govt.nz