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New Zealand: New Zealand Fisheries Slammed By New Consumer Guide |
| June 14, 2004 |
Source: Birdlife International
 | Orange roughy, ranked at the bottom of the "Best Fish List," has been a lucrative but overexploited fishery in New Zealand.
Photo: CSIRO Marine Research |
Twenty-three of New Zealand’s 62 fisheries kill significant numbers of seabirds, 50 cause habitat damage, and all but two are responsible for adverse ecological effects, according to research by The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society (BirdLife International in New Zealand).
Now consumers around the world will be able to choose fish from fisheries that do less harm to the environment, with the publication of Forest and Bird’s Best Fish Guide, the first independent guide to rank the ecological sustainability of New Zealand’s commercial marine fisheries.
"Consumers increasingly demand that seafood is sourced from ecologically sustainable fisheries. But until now they have had no way of knowing which fish are sustainably caught in NZ," said Forest and Bird’s Conservation Manager Kevin Hackwell.
To help consumers make better choices, Forest and Bird has brought together a huge amount of information and ranked fisheries in three colour categories:
Green – relatively well managed, with low habitat damage and/or bycatch
Amber – concerns about the status of stocks, fishing methods, habitat damage, management, bycatch or lack of knowledge
Red – fishery has a lot of problems because it is over-fished, poorly managed, has high bycatch, damages marine habitats, and/or there is a lack of knowledge.
"Consumers may be surprised to find out that no NZ fishery ranked green. We are not able to show that any NZ fishery is well managed with low habitat damage or bycatch."
—Kevin Hackwell, Conservation Manager, Forest and Bird |
Around half the fisheries were classed as amber; the rest ranked in the red. "Around half of NZ’s fisheries are clearly not sustainable because they are overfished, poorly managed, have high bycatch, damage marine habitats and/or have poor information about the state of the fishery," Mr Hackwell said. "The findings of our assessment contradict claims by the NZ Ministry of Fisheries and the NZ fishing industry that NZ fisheries are sustainable and well managed."
Among the worst-ranked fisheries were those involving Orange Roughy, Hoki and Oreos, species which are exported around the world. "Overseas consumers may be shocked to find out that NZ Hoki and Orange Roughy are from fisheries that are close to collapsing, kill large numbers of marine mammals and seabirds, and bulldoze fragile deepwater coral habitats," Mr Hackwell said.
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