It is disheartening to witness the collapse of our Blue Cod fishery but it is understandable.

Having been diving the Marlborough Sounds for 36years. I have enjoyed seeing 20lb moki, an abundance of crayfish, snapper, kingfish, groper, blue cod and other species. Sadly we have watched as species have become less and less.

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NIWA recently published a report based on a survey of blue cod in the Marlborough Sounds and Tasman bay.

Download the report and supporting documents as Acrobat Pdf files:
Full report
Map of survey areas
Tabulated data

A brief sample of the conclusion is quoted below:

The Marlborough Sounds and Tasman Bay blue cod fishery is strongly targeted by the recreational sector. Such pressure was correlated with the decline in relative abundance of blue cod between 1995/96 and 2001, as well as the continued decline in DURE and the low catch rates within the inner Sounds and off Separation Point.

The decline in mean size from the outer to the inner Sounds was also attributed to high fishing pressure in the more accessible inner and inshore areas of the Marlborough Sounds (Blackwell 2002, Beentjes & Carbines 2005).

In marked contrast, the mean size and relative abundance of blue cod increased in no-take reserves of outer Queen Charlotte Sound (Cole et al. 2000, Davidson 2001). This is supported by the increase in catch rates in the remote areas of the Sounds (i.e. EQCH, EOPE and DURW) and divers surveys that have shown small blue cod (< 17 cm T.L.) to be widely distributed in the shallow waters of the inner and mid areas of both Sounds (Cole et al. 2001). The sedentary nature of blue cod suggest that the recovery of the inner Sounds is likely to be slow.

More video of Hectors Dolphins in the Marlborough Sounds.
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