Fish & Game Council Introduces a Total bag Limit for the Season
There are new catch limits Imposed in Canterbury in order to protect New Zealand's Wild Chinook Salmon Species.
In the 2021/22 fishing season, the measures for sea-run salmon will replace daily catch restrictions and are expected to lower overall harvest by around 35 per cent, directly boosting the amount of fish that can breed and maintain future generations of salmon. For more than 20 years, the wild sea-run salmon fishery has been in decline [and] typical regulation solutions haven't worked for Fish and Game.
As a result of pressure on the sea-run every year, spawning runs now to see less than 10 per cent of the numbers that existed in the 1990s. A variety of variables, including habitat and water quality, hydropower development and irrigation practises, and ocean temperatures, could be contributing to the fall in spawning runs," said Dr Andrew Simpson, chair of the Central South Island Fish and Game Council. As a result, the Council has decided to try limiting season bags - and in 2020 both Canterbury-based Fish and Game Councils consulted with anglers and jointly sought the Government's approval to implement a season bag limit.
This new approach will hopefully ensure the survival of future generations of salmon.
Salmon Bag Limit cards will be available online through the Fish and Game licensing system. Once the limit is reached, anglers will have to stop their fishing for the rest of the season. This model is used throughout other countries and seems to have a positive impact on Salmon populations. Once Chinook Salmon populations increase in the future, the Fish and Game Council will revisit the season bag limit.
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