Fisheries

The message finally seems to be getting through to people fishing at a former Otago problem spot, a fisheries officer says.

The man who has been harvesting seaweed from a south coast beach is being investigated by three authorities.

The Otago rock lobster industry has crawled through one of its most difficult seasons in recent memory.

A compromise has been reached allowing the Moeraki mataitai to be approved, albeit with different boundaries, 10 years after it was first proposed, but commercial paua divers still have concerns about its potential impact on the Otago paua fishery.

Hoki fishing is responsible for more fur seal deaths than any other trawl fishery, despite its international certification as a sustainable industry, Forest and Bird says.

Major surgery could not keep David Ellison from celebrating the official opening of the East Otago Harbour taiapure.

Several businesses in Otago were among those hit by a covert Ministry of Fisheries operation aimed at catching dealers buying and selling fish illegally.

A recreational fishing survey, costing $5 million, will start this year, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley says.

Penalties totalling $367,709 have been imposed on a foreign fishing company and two of its crew after they admitted "trucking" - taking fish from one quota area and misreporting that it had come from the neighbouring zone.

Fishing boats will have to tie up and crew may leave for other jobs unless the Ministry of Fisheries increases the flatfish quota, and does so quickly, those connected with the Otago fishing industry say.