FISHERIES ENHANCEMENT AND MARINE FARMING

Fisheries Enhancement

Boosting wild fisheries by releasing more young fish or shellfish into them is called Fisheries Enhancement. This is mostly done to increase yields from commercially valuable species, or to help rebuild depleted populations.

Enhancement has been tried in a number of New Zealand fisheries over the past century. These include: chinook salmon, rock oysters, bluff oysters, cockles, pipi, toheroa, tuatua, paua, scallops, mussels, snapper, and kingfish.

A particularly effective, ongoing enhancement programme occurs with scallop fisheries in Tasman and Golden Bays.

Currently, the main focus of enhancement research in New Zealand is with the commercial paua fishery.

But enhancement has the potential to:

• transmit pests and diseases;
• alter the genetic makeup of the wild stock, by mixing distinct subpopulations;
• disrupt the ecological balance in an area; and
• attract additional and unsustainable fishing effort.

The science group provides information and advice to help guide decisions around stock enhancement programmes.

Marine Farming

The Ministry of Fisheries’ key role in aquaculture decisions is to decide whether the proposed marine farm would unduly affect people’s access to wild fisheries.

The science team supports this process by providing baseline information on fish catches in different parts of New Zealand.