Traditionally, the scallop season opens on 1 September each year, but for many areas around the country scallops remain off the menu.
Declining scallop numbers across New Zealand’s main scallop fisheries led to full closures to help these fisheries rebuild says Fisheries New Zealand’s Director of Fisheries Management, Emma Taylor.
“The Northland, Hauraki Gulf, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty scallop fisheries have been fully closed to recreational and commercial fishing since 2022. The Kaipara harbour fishery has been closed since 2018, and the Nelson/ Marlborough fishery has been closed since 2017.
“Scallops are an important shared fishery, highly valued by tangata whenua as well as recreational and commercial fishers. They are also an important part of the marine ecosystem.
“One of the ways we monitor these fisheries is through scientific surveys. Results are then compared against previous surveys to build a picture of how the fishery is responding without fishing pressure, and this helps with ongoing management.
Last year, Fisheries New Zealand commissioned NIWA (now Earth Sciences New Zealand) to undertake further surveys at sites across some of the main northern (lower Northland and Coromandel) scallop beds.
“The aim was to provide comparable data to previous surveys, to check in and see how these key scallop beds had responded to the closures,” Emma Taylor says.
While not all areas were surveyed, the results from the surveyed scallop beds showed an overall decline in scallops, with only areas of Whitianga/Mercury Island and Whangarei Harbour showing an increase.
“Longer protections through temporary closures and restrictions could have supported the improvement in Whitianga, however levels are still lower than they have been in the past and could not support reopening the fishery.
“We know scallops need high density beds to help the population grow, and there’s often some overlap with neighbouring scallop beds that are an important source of spat (young scallops). The continued closures will give these scallops the best opportunity to recover.
Further research is being undertaken by Earth Sciences NZ as part of our ongoing monitoring of the fishery.
“We’re also working with treaty partners and stakeholders to develop a future management strategy for scallop fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, which could be applied to other areas. It is clear that new and improved thinking is needed to work towards having scallops back on the menu for New Zealanders.
“In the meantime, these scallop fisheries remain closed and our Fishery Officers will continue to patrol the areas,” Emma Taylor says.
