Wildside-Tasman Bay

Mysteries of the bay

© Zane Mirfin, Wildside Column, Mysteries of the bay, Nelson Mail, 18 June 2011

Even after 40 years of fishing her glistening waters, Tasman Bay can still throw up some surprises.


You beauty: Butterfly perch might look pretty but the flesh was unpalatable.
Mystery fish: A juvenile common or blue warehou was a surprise catch.

I’ve said it before but Tasman Bay is a glistening jewel which has always been the apple of my eye. Her moods
and variety never cease to amaze me and I am dazzled by her beauty and bounty.

After 40 years of fishing since my first attempts off Mapua and Nelson wharves, guided by my parents, I still marvel at the magic of the bay. Since my first humble spotties and sprats, I’ve explored all over it, driven all kinds of boats from launches and fizz-boats to dinghies, and experienced some truly awesome fishing as well as my share of disappointment and failure.

Roughly defined as a triangular piece of water sandwiched between Separation Point to the west and Cape Soucis to the east, I usually expand my definition of Tasman Bay to include the waters between Farewell Spit and Stephens Island.

However you define it, it is a massive expanse of water, holding an equally awesome variety of fishing opportunities for those anglers who seek adventure on her rich, sheltered and fertile reaches.

Last week we headed out for a mid-week fish, with light winds and low swell. We didn’t start fishing until mid-morning but the fishing was awesome. Between us we managed to catch 10 species of fish: snapper, gurnard, tarakihi, kahawai, blue cod, barracouta, spotties, parrotfish, one I can’t remember, and even a mystery fish.

You’d think after 40 years of fishing the bay that you’d know every fish species out there in the briny but it’s not the case. As well as last week’s fish species, in April I caught another fish which I didn’t recognise.

Doing some research online I didn’t have much luck but Louise at the Richmond library capably showed me where to find a large selection of fish identification books and I was in the hunt. I also emailed pictures to Cawthron Institute scientists John Hayes, Reid Forrest, Rowan Strickland, Tim Dodgshun, and Dave Taylor. What was great was that we all came to the same conclusion about the fish specimens.

My two mystery fish caught in June turned out to be butterfly perch (Caesioperca Lepidoptera). These were truly beautiful fish and the photo doesn’t even begin to do justice.

The bright purple and blue gill plates and exquisite cyan and carmine coloured fins made for a veritable fish of paradise. According to the textbooks these perch are found around rocky New Zealand coastlines between
20 to 200 metres but are most common in warmer northern waters, growing to a maximum size of about 35cm. Eating planktonic animals, mainly invertebrates, larvae and fish eggs, butterfly perch are usually caught by line, or speared by recreational anglers.

Interestingly, although the fillets looked good, the uncooked flesh was tough and hard. When cooked the flesh had a mushy aftertaste and was unpalatable. If I ever catch another one I’ll definitely be practising catch and release.

The mystery fish I caught in April turned out to be a juvenile common or blue warehou (Seriolella brama), which I released. Warehou are an important commercial fish, especially in southern waters, with an average adult length of 50-60cm. Living in water depths to about 100m, blue warehou eat a wide variety of small animal life including jellyfish, and are readily caught by rod.

Catching two new species was a lot of fun and the question that arises when discussing fish is how many species are out in Tasman Bay?

Who knows? And that’s half the fun because you never know what you’ll catch next.

Just off the top of my head I can reel off a list of about 30 or so that often get caught by rod, line, net, and spear (not including crustaceans and shellfish). They include kingfish, groper, sea perch, mackerel, snapper, blue cod, parrotfish, red cod, goat fish, butterfish, moki, flounder, octopus, conger eel, sole, spiny dogfish, squid, thresher shark, ling, john dory, red gurnard, monkfish, albacore, silver warehou, trevally, carpet shark,
eagle ray, yelloweye mullet, garfish, kahawai, leatherjacket, tarakihi, grey mullet, tope and rig. I’m sure I’ve missed a few.

The Tasman Bay fishery is currently well managed for commercial, recreational and customary fishing but you can never have too many fish in the water. Many people would say Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley is a brave man signalling increased snapper quota around the country for commercial interests after the election.

Local recreational anglers value their right to fish, and remember well the in-shore pillage of the snapper fishery by commercial interests.

When I was a boy, snapper were virtually non-existent, and the fishery we enjoy today is the best I’ve ever experienced. Overseas studies show that a recreationally caught fish is much more valuable to local economies than a commercially caught fish, so let’s hope our bureaucrats and politicians remember large numbers of recreational anglers, hunters, and families who fish, pay taxes and vote.

Tasman Bay is a world-class fishery for all to enjoy. Like a beautiful mermaid, Tasman Bay will lure me back again and again with her siren call and I just can’t wait to see what other fish species we can catch out in the bay in the years to come.