Digital camera systems were used to monitor recreational fisheries in New Zealand from 2004–05 to 2022–23, but only recorded boat traffic at selected boat ramps across the country.
In 2011–12, creel surveys were started at boat ramps. During creel surveys, interviewers stand at boat ramps, interview fishers at the end of their fishing trip, and record their catch, which provides more information than is possible with a camera.
Together these data sources provided information on the number of boat outings, the proportion of boats that are used for fishing and a catch rate. These three pieces of information were then combined to estimate a relative annual harvest for snapper, kahawai, tarakihi, blue cod and red gurnard for each management area.
The creel survey results track the annual trend in the harvest but must be scaled up in line with the National Panel Survey, conducted every 5–6 years, to provide a scaled harvest index.
The results of this study, used in tandem with the periodic NPS, give a better understanding of not only the factors that influence recreational harvesting levels, but also show how unpredictable these factors can be and how variable the recreational harvest can be.
FAR 2024/53 Trends in recreational boat effort and harvest from 2004–05 to 2022–23
Type
Report - Fisheries Assessment Report (FAR)
Published
Last updated
