The turnaround of New Zealand’s orange roughy fishery – long-hailed as a classic example of overfishing – has been detailed in a new book, “Roughy on the Rise,” written by Tim Pankhurst, chief executive of Seafood New Zealand.
The book tells the story of the decline of the stocks through overfishing in the 1980s to the fisheries management that last year saw the fishery gain Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability certification.
According to Pankhurst, the 80s saw a “gold rush” on the high seas and the fishery was so lucrative it bankrolled the development of New Zealand’s seafood industry, but so much roughy was being caught that vessels were sunk in the process.
The return of orange roughy to a sustainable fishery has taken two decades of focused industry effort. New Zealand’s fishermen were taking 54,000 metric tons (MT) of roughy at the peak in the 80s; today, the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) is 8,700 MT, including 6,000 MT from MSC certified fisheries.
The direct investment in science and innovation by industry to ensure the orange roughy fisheries are sustainable has amounted to around NZD 35 million (USD 24.6 million, EUR 23.1 million) since 2000.
New Zealand’s three fisheries were the first orange roughy fisheries in the world to gain MSC certification, joining the country’s hake, ling, hoki, southern blue whiting and albacore tuna fisheries. Today, 75 percent of the catches from New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries are certified to the sustainability standard, which equates to 50 percent of the total New Zealand catch by volume.
New Zealand government recently forecast that the country’s seafood export earnings would grow by an average of 4.6 percent per year, reaching NZD 1.9 billion (USD 1.3 billion, EUR 1.2 billion) in the year ending June 2018.
It is also estimated that the industry supports more than 8,000 jobs and contributes NZD 2.5 billion (USD 1.8 billion, EUR 1.6 billion) to the local economy.
