Ensuring There Are Always Enough Fish In The Sea

Ensuring There Are Always Enough Fish In The Sea

22 Apr 2015 07:00 am | Yvonne Baldock

Kimberley Maxwell grew up fishing for kahawai with her family at the mouth of the Mōtū River in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Now, with the support of the inaugural Bruce Cronin BayTrust scholarship, she’s working hard to preserve that experience for future generations of New Zealanders.

“Fishing was a big part of my childhood. For the local community, the kahawai is part of their identity. It’s just as important as the river that runs through their land or the mountain they’re affiliated to. It’s what they’re known for.

“With the current legislation over-fishing could happen so I’d like to help develop a management regime that would prevent that from occurring.”

Holistic Approach To Fisheries

Kimberley is half way through completing her PhD in Marine Biology at Victoria University. Her thesis examines how the Bay of Plenty kahawai fishery can be managed using a big picture “ecosystems management” approach.

One of her aims is to investigate why kahawai are attracted to the Mōtū River mouth. Kimberley has several hypotheses – they could be looking to spawn, removing parasites, chasing prey or avoiding predators themselves.

In addition, she is listening to local views on the significance of the kahawai and how local lore and customs strive to achieve the sustainability of this resource. Together, the information will underpin a new management model which she will present to the Ministry for Primary Industries who are closely following her research.

“Since the period of intense commercial fishing in the late 1970s some Māori of the Eastern Bay of Plenty have continued to express concern over the status of the kahawai stock, which has not been addressed. This research is an attempt to address this concern,” she says.

At present, recreational fishing regulations allow a substantial catch of 20 mixed fish (including kahawai) per person, per day. Kahawai are also caught commercially and sold primarily as bait, pet food or canned fish as well as fresh and smoked.

“With our increasing population size and demand for affordable protein sources, it is important that the allocation accurately reflects what is being caught,” Kimberley says.

Field Trips Underway

To find answers to her questions, Kimberley spends her summer months at the Mōtū River mouth, 40km east of Ōpōtiki, interviewing the locals and examining the fish caught there.

“Fishers have been really helpful, letting me examine and measure their kahawai. I’m looking at their stomachs to see what they’re eating and their gills to see if they have any parasites. Commercial fishers are also providing samples so I can compare those caught at sea with those at the river to establish if there are any differences.”

The $5000 Bruce Cronin scholarship will help Kimberley fund these trips north from Wellington, and allow her to pay her research assistants a small amount to acknowledge their efforts.

Local Recognition and Support

Kimberley is the first recipient of BayTrust’s new scholarship – named after long-time Trust Manager Bruce Cronin in recognition of his service to the people of the Bay of Plenty.

“I’m so grateful to the BayTrust and thankful for this scholarship,” Kimberley says. “To know that it’s especially for research that benefits the Bay is really cool.”

BayTrust will award the scholarship once a year to support a masters or doctoral student carrying out research in mathematics, science or information technology that will benefit the region. The student must have ties to the geographical area that BayTrust covers.

Bruce Cronin, who served as BayTrust’s Manager from 1997 until 2014, says he is humbled by BayTrust’s establishment of the scholarship fund in his name and the Trust’s support for his ideals of providing meaningful educational assistance to a promising scientist based entirely on his or her merit.

“I congratulate Kimberley on her success in achieving this inaugural Bruce Cronin BayTrust scholarship,” he said. “There is absolutely no doubt that the Bay, the country and the whole planet can benefit enormously from enthusiastic, capable scientists such as Kimberley. I will follow her progress with huge interest!”

Future Plans

Kimberley aims to complete her Doctorate by September 2016. From there, her ultimate dream is to see a marine biology research centre established in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

“With strong fisheries and aquaculture interests in this area it makes sense to have the region’s research conducted locally to foster relationships between the scientists and the communities we serve.”

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