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TRAWLERS AND THE
DESTRUCTIVE BOXNET
During this earlier period there were also 15 to
20 fishing trawlers operating from Whitianga,
putting even more pressure on the facilities, but
adding greatly to the local economy.
Today there is only the one trawler, which uses
the much more efficient Danish seining method.
This produces a much higher quality catch,
nearly as good as fish caught on long lines.
The Kiwi-made ‘Saltymate Stowaway’
scallop dredger, for individual use, is
small but effective. Commercial dredging baskets
can be 2 metres across, with several dragged,
scouring the sea floor and digging up scallops.
A fine yellowfin caught
in the boxnet out from
Hot Water Beach.
Photo by Mike Wilson
16
COROMANDEL LIFE 2015 SPRING/HOLIDAY
M
ERCURY
b
AY
’
s
FISHING INDUSTRY
and the boats were forced to travel as far away
as Tauranga searching for a catch as they tried
to limp through the season. The Ministry of
Fisheries, as it was then called, negotiated a
series of measures with the fishermen, including
reducing the number of boats to twenty-two.
Despite these measures, the following seasons
fluctuated. There were diseases, problems with
tube worm, and recent reports of a new parasite
in the beds around Great Mercury and Great
Barrier Islands. Scallop beds that were prolific
one year would be barren the next.
Gradually the scallop fleet dwindled until we
now have as few as 10 fishers able to eke out
a sustainable living. The current annual scallop
catch ranges between 30 and 50 tonnes, which
are trucked to Whangamata for processing.
W
ith a local commercial fishing industry
that stretches back to the start of the
20th century, it’s not surprising that the Mercury
Bay Museum decided that, when prioritising its
displays, commercial fishing needed to feature.
After all, the kauri industry had come and gone,
the Dairy Factory (now the site of the museum)
had closed, but a sustainable fishing industry
remains in town.
The museum’s display, covering virtually all
aspects of fishing in the area, is possibly
the most comprehensive in the country and
provides a fascinating insight into the activities
in a coastal town where fishing is an activity
playing a important part of many people’s lives.
LOCAL SCALLOPS:
BOOM, BUST, SUSTAIN
The commercial fishing industry is relatively
stable these days, but that has not always been
the case, for it has tended to be a boom-or-
bust one in the past. There was a time in 1978
at the start of the scallop season when over
40 boats were lined up by the wharf awaiting
the opening of the scallop season. While some
were local boats, many had moved up from
Nelson where the scallop beds had collapsed
through over fishing. For some weeks there was
near chaos as boats competed for the favoured
spots. The scallops were abundant and most
boats were bringing in two to three hundred
kilos a day, which at about $13 per kilo meant
big money was being made for those days.
Something had to give, and it did. After a
couple of months, the catch dropped right off