Photo: Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye/ 123rf
Recreational fishers land over 4,000 tonnes of snapper annually. Fisheries New Zealand commissioned research carried out by NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) into the survival rates of recreationally caught snapper that are released back to the sea. The project has been a NIWA collaboration with Ngāti Kuta, Legasea, and Bluewater Marine Research. Results show 85 percent of the fish were still alive at the end of the first experiment, and this could potentially help fishers to save hundreds of thousands of fish each year. Principal scientist at Fisheries New Zealand, Bruce Hartill, who was previously at NIWA, led the project and says more careful handling of fish can increase sustainability.
