Commercial landings of kōkiri / leatherjacket in the Gulf have crashed by more than 80 percent in the past decade, yet Fisheries NZ says the population must be growing because new trawl gear lets more fish escape!
If you are not seeing more kōkiri then the catch decline is more likely indicating a population crash, and our friendly sea-squirt chompers are getting rarer while the catch limit stays sky-high. I’ve lodged a submission asking for a five-year closure of the LEA 1 fishery so these fish, and the reefs and mussel lines they keep clean, can recover.
Unless you’ve witnessed a sudden kōkiri boom yourself, please add your voice.