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Please, let us feed you
Please, let us feed you

Otago Daily Times

time2 days ago

  • General
  • Otago Daily Times

Please, let us feed you

Pat Nyhon begs to differ with Gwynne Dyer about bottom trawling. I have been fishing commercially for 37 years. I currently fish the southern waters out of Bluff and own a 16m trawler that bottom trawls. We employ three crew and support many local engineering shops and suppliers in our region. I supply fish to two companies, which is both exported and sold fresh in New Zealand. Some landings can be up to 25 different species of fish. You may well have eaten the fish I catch, perhaps from your local fish and chip shop or supermarket. I grew up on farms, but when an uncle who was a fisher took me for trip when I was 16, I fell in love with fishing, because of the freedom you get out there on the water, seeing the wildlife and finding that no two days are the same. But it's a job that comes with many challenges such as the brutal cost of fuel and gear and compliance costs caused by the many rules we have to follow. Another thing that's tough is the constant use of misinformation to shut us down. It can be really troubling to read opinion pieces like the one in the Otago Daily Times the other day by Gwynne Dyer (23.6.25). I understand that Gwynne is a British-Canadian military historian and author who has also worked as a professor and journalist. He's done a lot of things, but I didn't see fisher on that list. Gwynne was celebrating the release of the film Ocean, which is narrated by Sir David Attenborough. You will have seen this film getting a lot of attention in the media. It shows the absolute worst-case examples of bottom trawl fishing and says that this fishing method should be stopped worldwide. The issue for a fisher like me is that the film and Gwynne's column are talking about situations that don't hold true here in New Zealand, including here in Otago and Southland. No honest fisher (and I can tell you, most of us are very honest and straight talking) will tell you trawling is perfect. Yes, there was some pretty rough activity in the past, back in the 1960s and '70s when people fished over all sorts of terrain and took as much as they liked. These days, it's a very different story. I have been fishing for long enough to see the changes. Nowadays, we are very restricted in where we fish. And we're bloody careful. We cannot and do not trawl through coral beds. Our nets cost about $20,000, so it would be financial suicide to destroy gear. The areas we trawl have been trawled since trawling was first used and they are flat sandy or mud bottom. The idea that we're somehow running around, letting loose with trawl gear and damaging the oceans is just nonsense in my experience. It's not what happens. There are strict limits on how much fish you can take. That's because of the Quota Management System. A report out of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN the other day said our management systems in New Zealand had given us one of the best sustainability records in the world. It says that 85.5% of all the fish stocks in our area are sustainably fished and those sustainable stocks are responsible for an estimated 95.7% of landings. Most of us have cameras on board these days (except for the really big vessels that have government observers and the really small vessels that don't have the power supply or places to put cameras). The Ministry for Primary Industries has now rolled out cameras on 218 fishing vessels, meaning we have the most cameras on commercial fishing boats of any country. A big challenge for us in fishing is that people can't come out on the water with us every day. If you could come out on my vessel with me, you would see how careful we are. You would see how we stick to our traditional fishing areas. We use modern gear and all our experience to try to avoid capturing seabirds or mammals. I love what I do. I've been fishing for a long time. I want people to understand that what gets me up in the morning is the fact that I am working in a beautiful natural environment, seeing an ever-changing sunrise or sunset and the wildlife at sea. I am also very proud that I am harvesting a food that has no additives, no pesticides and is considered a healthy brain and heart food by many scientists. As a fisher, I ask you and guys like Gwynne, please let us continue to put food on your plate. — Pat Nyhon is a commercial fisherman.

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