The New Zealand Best Fish Guide - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 376

Table 18.3 Examples of assessments of fishing methods.

Score Technique Environmental effects of technique

A Collecting and diving:

e.g. abalone (paua)
( Haliotis iris )

Bycatch and wastage: Collecting (usually from the
intertidal zone) and diving can be highly selective but not
if coastal stripping takes place
Habitat damage: Low habitat impact. Collection and
trampling in the intertidal zone may impact on intertidal
communities but this is negligible compared to
recreational catches which can strip areas of fish and
shellfish

A Jigging (squid):

e.g. squid ( Nototodarus
gouldi )

Bycatch and wastage: Jigging is highly selective and
takes minimal bycatch. Discarded lines and lost jigs may
have an impact on other sea life
Habitat damage: Low habitat impact

B Trapping and potting

Potting - lobster ( Jasus
edwardsii )
Trapping - blue cod
( Parapercis colias )

Bycatch and wastage: Fish traps and lobster pots are
selective, with some bycatch of other fish species and
octopus. Seals and shags can sometimes be trapped
and drown in rock lobster pots and seals and whales and
dolphins can get entangled in pot lines
Habitat damage: Minimal habitat damage, unless placed
on fragile corals or other reef species

B Trolling:

e.g. albacore tuna
( Thunnus alalunga )

Bycatch and wastage: Trolling is a relatively selective
method of catching tuna with few other species being
caught. Fur seals and seabirds are occasionally hooked
on trolls
Habitat damage: Minimal habitat damage

B Purse seining:

e.g. kahawai ( Arripis
trutta ) and blue
mackerel ( Scomber
australasicus )

Bycatch and wastage: Purse seining usually targets
single species schools, and tends to be relatively
selective
Habitat damage: Negligible impact on the seafloor

C-D Danish seining:

e.g. snapper
( Pagrus auratus )

Bycatch and wastage: A seining method using a large
net but the catch hauled on deck. The catch is more
likely to be crushed and survival of discarded catch is
lower than beach seining
Habitat damage: Danish seine nets contact seafloor.
While mostly carried out on sandy and low profile
seafloor, it can impact on sensitive and vulnerable
seabed habitat

D Longlining:

Pelagic - tuna, snapper
Bottom set - ling and
bluenose
( Hyperoglyphe
antarctica )
Droplines - bluenose

Bycatch and wastage: Longlining for tuna results in
significant mortality of albatrosses and petrels as well as
billfish and sharks. Inshore longlines (e.g. for snapper)
also catch and kill petrels
Habitat damage: It has minimal impact on habitat but
lost lines can entangle and kill protected marine wildlife.
Longlining uses a large amount of bait, potentially
affecting these species and raising biosecurity issues
over the sea into which the bait is released