The summer fishing season is here and many New Zealanders are enjoying recreational fishing.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has produced the New Zealand fishing rules app, making it easier to know the rules for the area you intend to fish.
The app allows users to check legal minimum and maximum catch sizes, closed fishing areas and where it is safe to collect shellfish from.
It allows users to report suspected poachers and to identify fish species and if they are common in the area.
With places such as Moeraki, Kakanui and Oamaru, the Waitaki District contains key areas where people enjoy gathering seafood including pāua, blue cod, kina and other species.
Fisheries New Zealand regional manager fisheries compliance Garreth Jay said to help protect the sustainability of these fisheries, there were a number of important rules and requirements in place that could be found on the app, specific to the area people were fishing in — "so seafood is available for all New Zealanders for generations to come", he said.
Compliance with these rules is managed and monitored by fishery officers from the Ministry for Primary Industries based in what is known as the Lower South Region.
This region stretches from the Rangitata River on the East Coast across to the Karangarua River on the West Coast, and everything south of that.
Fishery officers conduct work over a number of fishing sectors in this region, including the international, domestic commercial, customary, recreational and aquaculture sectors.
Mr Jay said generally compliance levels in the region were high with about 95% inspections overall finding no issues or breaches of regulations.
However, there were parts of the region where compliance rates were below average, including "areas within the Waitaki District, which is sitting at around a 85% compliance rate".
However, some fishers did not follow the daily limits for shellfish, particularly pāua, or took pāua less than the minimum length of 125mm.
With a lot of blue cod fishing out of Oamaru and Moeraki, Mr Jay said the boat ramp inspections and vessel patrols still found many people with small blue cod.
"Give yourself a margin for error and only take blue cod that are bigger than 33cm."
Fishery officers were also concerned some fishers used the small blue cod for bait.
"This is not good fishing practice and undermines the sustainability reasons for the size limit."
He advised any blue cod less than 33cm must be returned to the water immediately whether alive or dead.
"Anyone found using small blue cod for bait will receive a $250 infringement notice."
