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Characterising Fisheries and Other Marine Harvesting in the Bay of Islands, with Ecological Consequences, from First Human Settlement to the Present

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Characterising Fisheries and Other Marine Harvesting in the Bay of Islands, with Ecological Consequences, from First Human Settlement to the Present Characterising fisheries and other marine harvesting in the Bay of Islands, with ecological consequences, from first human settlement to the present New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 186 J.D. Booth ISSN 1179-6480 (online) ISBN 978-1-77665-687-5 (online) October 2017 Requests for further copies should be directed to: Publications Logistics Officer Ministry for Primary Industries PO Box 2526 WELLINGTON 6140 Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0800 00 83 33 Facsimile: 04‐894 0300 This publication is also available on the Ministry for Primary Industries websites at: http://www.mpi.govt.nz/news‐and‐resources/publications http://fs.fish.govt.nz go to Document library/Research reports © Crown Copyright ‐ Ministry for Primary Industries Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 3 Physical and climatological setting ................................................................................................ 5 History of settlement, European colonisation, and population growth ..................................... 6 1. PRE-CONTACT (pre-1800) RESOURCES .............................................................................. 8 1.1 Midden contents ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Dated sites ................................................................................................................................ 12 1.3 Discussion and conclusions ................................................................................................... 18 Extirpations and extinctions ............................................................................................................... 18 Other impacts from harvesting ........................................................................................................... 19 To sum up ....................................................................................................................................... 19 2. EARLY POST-CONTACT (1800-1900) RESOURCES ........................................................ 20 2.1 Rock oysters ............................................................................................................................. 20 2.2 Finfish ........................................................................................................................................ 21 2.3 Marine mammals ..................................................................................................................... 23 2.4 Seabirds .................................................................................................................................... 26 2.5 Discussion and conclusions ................................................................................................... 26 3. RECENT (POST-1900) RESOURCES ................................................................................... 27 3.1 COMMERCIAL FISHERY ..................................................................................................... 27 3.1.1 Rock oysters ......................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.2 Finfish ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3.1.3 Commercial fisheries in Statistical Area 003 over the past 10 years ...........................37 3.1.4 Discussion and conclusions................................................................................................ 37 3.2 RECREATIONAL FISHERY ................................................................................................. 37 3.2.1 Gamefish ............................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.2 Other finfish, and shellfish ................................................................................................... 40 Species most-sought and most-caught ............................................................................................... 42 Intensity of fishing effort .................................................................................................................... 44 Time-series of harvests .................................................................................................................... 45 3.2.3 Discussion and conclusions................................................................................................ 46 3.3 MARINE MAMMALS AND SEABIRDS .................................................................................... 46 4. CURRENT STATUS OF FISH, SHELLFISH, MARINE MAMMALS & SEABIRDS ......... 47 4.1 Fish and shellfish ..................................................................................................................... 47 4.1.1 Status of East Northland Substock of SNA 1 (snapper) ............................................. 47 4.1.2 Status of KAH 1 (kahawai, North Cape to Cape Runaway) ...................................... 50 4.1.3 Status of recreational fishery for striped marlin ........................................................... 51 4.1.4 Status of other finfish of commercial/recreational importance ................................. 52 4.1 5 Status of CRA 1 (red rock lobster, North Cape to Cape Runaway) ........................ 52 4.1.6 Status of other shellfish ................................................................................................... 53 4.2 Marine mammals ..................................................................................................................... 54 4.3 Seabirds .................................................................................................................................... 56 4.4 Discussion and conclusions ................................................................................................... 57 5. PROGRESSIVE LOSS OF SHALLOW-REEF KELP COMMUNITIES .............................. 57 5.1 Bay of Islands-wide ................................................................................................................. 57 5.2 Case studies ............................................................................................................................. 64 5.3 Discussion and conclusions ................................................................................................... 68 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................. 71 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................... 73 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 73 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................... 81 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Booth, J.D. (2017). Characterising fisheries and other marine harvesting in the Bay of Islands, with ecological consequences, from first human settlement to the present. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 186. 86 p. New Zealand was among the last major landmasses not only to be populated, but also to be colonised, and so has a rich archaeological record, less troubled by erosion and sea-level change than many other places. These writings explore the changes human intrusion has brought about among the marine food resources of New Zealand’s Bay of Islands (35° 12′ S, 174° 10′ E): its fish and shellfish, marine mammals and seabirds, and the extent of loss of the shallow-reef kelp in the main basin of the Bay which has occurred along with the intensification of fishing. The main data sources are the contents of middens and the results of archaeological excavations; published historical accounts and pictorial records; published and archival catch statistics; and aerial imagery. The earliest dated item associated with human settlement in the Bay of Islands so far is a rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata valve radiocarbon-dated to between 1256 and 1324 AD. A total Māori population for the Bay of Islands in 1750 AD on the order of 10 000 may not be an unreasonable estimate. The resident population appears to have fallen to around 1000 in 1900 AD, before building to around 40 000 today. Bay of Islands’ dated middens suggest that, during the first five centuries of human presence, there was change over time in the foods sought and consumed as the population became increasingly agriculture- based: marine mammal, seabirds and the Cook Strait limpet Cellana denticulata (as well as moa bones) were present only in early Bay of Islands sites; and fish and shellfish variety narrowed over time, with a growing focus on soft-shore estuarine shellfish. It seems, however, that 500 years of pre-Contact Māori harvesting pressure left no distinguishable and enduring legacy on Bay of Islands’ fish and shellfish resources - with the probable exception of the fishing-out of local populations of the Cook Strait limpet, and possibly initiating the extirpation of hapuku Polyprion oxygeneios from shallow waters. But, almost certainly, overharvesting in the Bay of Islands contributed to the extinction of the New Zealand sealion Phocarctos hookeri
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