Sanford CEO Volker Kuntzsch. (Photo: You Tube)

Onboard cameras offer snapper fishing transparency

NEW ZEALAND
Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 02:00 (GMT + 9)

Fishing firm Sanford welcomes the introduction of monitoring technology in all fishing trawlers to improve the integrity of the industry and to deliver greater transparency and science across the snapper one fishery (SNA 1).

“There is nothing more important to us than having a healthy fishery. Creating this level of transparency means that the fishers working on the water and consumers enjoying a meal of snapper can feel good about the sustainability of our fish stocks,” Sanford CEO, Volker Kuntzsch, pointed out.

SNA 1 stretches the length of the east coast of the North Island, from the far north to the bottom of the Bay of Plenty, and is one of the largest and most valuable fisheries in New Zealand.

The cameras, or electronic observers, verify that fishers are accurately reporting and recording numbers of snapper under 25 cm in length which legally have to be returned to the sea.

The research and development company who will gather the data and information is Trident Systems a New Zealand company who also run the Vessel Management System.

“This is another proactive fisheries management tool. We already record information around each fishing event – including top seven species, weight and any undersized fish returned to the sea. What this system will do is visually verify that we are recording and reporting this data to an auditable science standard”, Kuntzsch stressed.

Sanford ’s CEO recalled that the firm has previously trialled on board cameras introduced as part of an industry led initiative which included the introduction of a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and a move on rule for reducing catches of small fish.

He also highlighted that the success of this trial has led to the installation of cameras across the snapper trawl fleet, about 20 vessels on a permanent basis, 24/7 over three years.

“We have a lot invested in in this fishery. Currently all vessels catching more than 5 tonnes of snapper a year have been fitted with VMS through GPS tracking, which is monitored by the vessel owner, the Ministry for Primary Industries and fishing research company, Trident Systems and since the beginning of 2016 all trawlers have cameras, while Danish seiners carry MPI observers”, Kuntzsch said.

For his part, Minister for Primary Industries, Hon Nathan Guy, congratulated snapper trawl fishers on their commitment and fishermen also welcomed the measure as an effort to meet requirements for greater transparency in order to demonstrate responsible fishing practice.

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