Which fishing method is best?
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 11 » Which fishing method is best?Fishing methods scorecard
Fishing methods used in New Zealand
Described and rated from best to worst by Forest & Bird.
| A | Collecting and diving
eg paua, pipi |
| Low habitat impact. | |
| A | Jigging
eg squid |
| Low habitat impact. | |
| B | Hand lining (rod and line and hand-held spools)
eg snapper |
| Non-target and undersized fish are sometimes taken as by-catch. | |
| B | Trapping and potting
eg lobster (potting), blue cod (trapping) |
| Seals, whales, dolphins and shags can sometimes be trapped in pots or entangled in pot lines. | |
| B | Fyke nets
eg freshwater eel |
| Some by-catch of other fish species. | |
| B | Trolling
eg albacore tuna |
| Fur seals and seabirds are occasionally hooked on trolls. | |
| B | Purse seining
eg kahawai and blue mackerel |
| Targets single species schools but by-catch of other fish species. | |
| B | Lampara nets
eg anchovies, pilchards and garfish |
| Targets single species schools but can catch small fish. | |
| C | Beach seining
eg yellow-eyed mullet |
| Beach seining has low selectivity. | |
| C/D | Danish seining
eg snapper |
| Similar to beach seining but the catch is hauled on deck so survival of discarded by-catch is lower. | |
| D | Long-lining
eg tuna, snapper (pelagic) |
| Long-lining can kill albatrosses, petrels, billfish and sharks. Lost lines can entangle and kill marine wildlife. | |
| D | Drag net
eg flat fish |
| Drag net has low selectivity. | |
| D | Gill netting (including set netting)
eg rig shark, elephant fish |
| Can take large amounts of by-catch including dolphins, seals, sharks, seabirds and reef fish. | |
| D | Middle-depth trawling eg hoki, squid and southern blue whiting |
| Can take substantial tonnage of by-catch; catches fur seals, sea lions and dolphins. Pelagic trawls often touch the bottom and their impact is therefore similar to that of bottom trawling. | |
| E | Bottom trawling and dredging
eg orange roughy (trawling); oysters, scallops (dredging) |
| Trawling and dredging can take large quantities of by-catch, up to ten times that of the target species. Trawling also catches fur seals, sea lions and dolphins and damages the sea floor. |
