After more than a decade of proactive engagement, bycatch mitigation trials and innovations, and significant industry investment in observer coverage, New Zealand’s largest jack mackerel fishery (JMA 7) achieved an impressive milestone for the 2023/24 fishing year (1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024): zero captures of protected species. That’s no seabirds, no fur seals, no dolphins. 

While small in size, jack mackerel (hauture) is a significant species for New Zealand’s commercial fishing sector, currently worth over $66 million in export revenue.

Located off the west coast of New Zealand’s North and South Islands, JMA 7 is the largest of the JMA fisheries, with a total annual catch of 32,000 tonnes. Calling this fishery vital to our industry is an understatement. Seafood New Zealand CEO Lisa Futschek says this result is all about hard work and cooperation. “It’s such good news and it didn’t come easy. The people operating in this fishery have developed multiple measures over many years to prevent bycatch. They have worked together to understand what works and what doesn’t, supported by Seafood New Zealand and other industry groups.”

JMA 7 is a highly monitored fishery with close to 80% observer coverage annually over the past 10 years. Industry has been supportive of this high observer coverage to help verify protected species interactions and to demonstrate the improvements in the fishery over time. “It’s taken a lot of effort over many years to get to this point, but it was worth it,” says Futschek. “Protecting marine mammals and seabirds is so important to the people in this industry and everyone is working on this. The work in JMA 7 shows a successful approach to protected species risk management and Seafood New Zealand is keen to spread the knowledge.”

The skippers, vessel managers and companies involved have developed procedures for all protected species, but in the early days, common dolphin captures in JMA 7 were the biggest concern. Significant dolphin capture events in the early 2010s triggered the industry to make changes to their fishing operations and how they responded to capture events.

The changes involved implementing a variety of tools and processes. These included:

  • Crews’ yearly briefings with Deepwater Environmental Liaison Officers and reviews of capture events
  • Open dialogue with skippers and vessel managers about risk factors
  • Use of audio devices that deter dolphins
  • Reducing the number of nighttime tows during the ‘higher-risk period’
  • Open communication between skippers, notifying the whole JMA fleet if/when a capture does occur
  • Avoidance of new moon fishing at shallow depths.

The three fishing companies currently involved are Sealord, Independent Fisheries Limited and Maruha.

Tim Law, the GM of Operations at Maruha, says the result was achieved through massive efforts by fishing experts and others looking for practical solutions.

“Communication and cooperation between the three main companies involved in the fishery has been key to the success.

“The vessel managers and crew should also be commended for adopting new practices, equipment, and abiding by the operating procedures and the ‘ten commandments’. This was disruptive at the beginning to the crew, but they fully adopted them, knowing it would prevent the interactions with the mammals and birds they share the environment with.”

While there is widespread delight with the result, Futschek acknowledges the industry can’t rest on its laurels.

“We know there will always be more work to do. Even in this fishery, with all the effort put in, we may not get a zero result next year. But the point is we have a decade’s worth of figuring out what works.

“We must acknowledge that every fishery is different – different fishing vessels with vastly different operations interact with different species across different parts of New Zealand’s oceans – so there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. But this demonstrates what can be achieved through proactive engagement, collaboration with knowledgeable skippers, supportive crews and industry led measures.” 

 

At a glance

  • In the early 2010s, common dolphin captures were identified as a key issue in the JMA 7 fishery. Industry and government took immediate steps to improve monitoring and develop risk-reduction measures.
  • From 2012, this fishery became one of the most highly monitored fisheries in New Zealand, with an average of 78% of tows observed annually. This high observer coverage was supported by industry as an integral part of improving our monitoring and understanding of common dolphin captures in the fishery.
  • In the years that followed, Deepwater Group and members of the fishery worked closely together to build an understanding about dolphin interaction and developed tools and procedures to reduce risk of captures.
  • After more than a decade of proactive engagement, development of tools and a huge investment from industry in observer coverage, this fishery has successfully achieved zero protected species captures for the whole of the 2023/24 fishing year (1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024).