b'EditorialSeptember/October 2021 / Issue 35The editor loves surfcasting off Ripiro Beach, Northlandcharity snapper fishing contest with a new where the snapper fishing has finally recovered after over-fishing from trawling in the 70s and 80s. car up for grabs, this brought hundreds of anglers from all over the country and was like 90 Miles now famous contest.But with the snapper overfishing affecting the catch rate, in the 80s it was changed to kahawai and then unfortunately died a slow death as a once popular community fishing comp.Over the past 10 years the fishing that I have experienced and reports from friends and family, the snapper fishing is the best I have seen here in my lifetime.It has finally recovered from those bad days.However,FISHING IN GODZONE there is a dark cloud on the west coastSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 horizon, the SNA 8 area which occupies thisISSUE #35vast fishery is now under review by the currentCOVER PHOTO Government.With their estimations of theEvana Corric scored her PB kingfish fish stocks back to 54 per cent from the paltryon a softbait in the Far North. 7 per cent it plummeted to, they are eyeing upPhoto: Justin Corricincreases for the commercial fishing industry.More fish unfortunately also means moreEDITOR AT LARGE dollars!Having been forced to leave thisMathew HewetsonH ello Godzone readers, fishery alone for nearly 16 years due to the badWRITERS Having grown up and fishedstate it was left in, the improved stocks underScott Cushman, Evana Corric,my whole life off the westthe QMS (Quota Management System) fromDan Westerkamp, Blair Whiting, Greg Zaloumis, Mary Jabone, coast of Northland fromaround 1300 tonnes each year means they areMatt Strachanthe Hokianga down toseeking between 3,065-4,152 tonnes a year forDESIGNthe Kaipara Harbour, I cancommercial interests.This is a big increase andBlockstart honestly say this area is truly a magical, ruggedI worry about the impact on the recreationalwww.blockstart.co.nzpiece of coast that delivers great fishing.Thisfishing and the families this importantPRINTING hasnt always been the way however, and I cankaimoana goes to all along the Tasman coast. Ovato Printrecall when as a young keen angler how hard itLegaSea have done a good job in seekingDISTRIBUTIONwas to catch a single snapper on the surfcastersubmissions from the public and more thanOvato NZin the eighties and nineties. 10,000 have been received by the MinisterPUBLISHERThis was because of the destructiveof Oceans and Fisheries for consideration. Marlin Marketing Limited commercial fishing along the west coastThis is a strong response from people whoMathew Hewetson P: 022 355 0588from the 1970s1980s when the trawlerscare about the snapper 8 fishery and its widerE: mathew@marlinmarketing.co.nzcompletely over-fished our beloved waters. environment.A decision is to be made in late-We used to sit in our family bach at nightSeptember, as you are probably reading this and see the Japanese pair trawlers with lightswith possible changes coming in effect as soon blazing and their workers tending to the nets,as October.on still nights they were so close you couldI hope sense will prevail and our submissionsFishing In Godzone is subject to copyright in its entirety.The contents may not be reproduced in hear them speaking!have an impact on decisions, I want the futureany form, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publishers. All copy, photos My grandfather Alby Pattinson wouldfishing to be as good if not better for my kidsor other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless have a few whiskies and reminisce about hisand their children.I hope they wont have toclearly labelled not for publication.Opinions expressed from such content are not necessarily younger days in the 50s when snapper werelisten to my sad stories as an old man aboutthose of the publisher.so plentiful, you only needed a handline withhow good it was and then it was gone, again.ISSN 23821655a big toheroa bait (a large tuatua-like shellfish fishingingodzone.co.nznow protected), and you were guaranteed aMathew Hewetson /fishingingodzonefish on every cast.They were all big snapper too, nothing under 10lb and often he wouldEDITOR AT LARGE see their tails sticking up from the shallows as they spun around feeding on the toheroa beds at high tide. SCAN TO VIEW Alby would curse the Government andFIGZ CLUB!trawlers for what they had done to the state of the snapper fishery and let it get so bad.There even used to be an annual Lions run 6FISHING IN GODZONE SEP/OCT 2021'