Off the coast of Hawke’s Bay, the Springs Box closure agreement between local commercial and recreational fishers is celebrating its 10th anniversary – the tin anniversary, for anyone keeping track of those milestones.
Springs Box may appear to be an unassuming 230 square kilometres of ocean east of Napier Port, but the area is where popular species like snapper and gurnard are thought to spawn during the summer months. It's not an official marine protection enforced by Government, but fishers agree to close the area to bottom trawling and Danish seining (though commercial trolling for albacore tuna is still allowed).
The annual closure, which will conclude for the season on 28 February, is entirely voluntary – and has led to long-term, positive relationships among all members of the region's fishing community.
Way back in 2015, recreational representatives from the Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club and LegaSea got together with local commercial fishers to find a way to simmer-down tensions about stock levels.
Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club life member Wayne Bicknell was one of the key figures on the recreational side. He describes the initial meetings as “pretty straightforward,” if a bit fiery. But once the “argy-bargy” was out of the way, discussions were productive, leading to a proactive compromise that everyone could work with.
“It was good because we knew each other. Young Mike Terry [Junior] plays cricket with my son and [fisher] Rick Burch, his son married my daughter.”
Mike Terry Senior, a third-generation commercial fisher in Napier, has spent over 60 years on the water. Along with Wayne, he was also at that first, pivotal meeting to set up the Springs Box area.
“It was a pretty good effort by all the guys in the Port,” he says of the long-standing agreement. “Everyone is all on board with it. Just getting on with each other, there should be a lot more of that, getting everyone on side. It all developed from there.”
Since 2019, the recreational Club has conducted more rigorous Colin Murray Ramp Survey for fishers and competitions to record details about any recreational catches from Springs Box, which is critical to monitoring the overall state of the fishery.
Their data shows increases in snapper, and Wayne thinks bottom fishing is “probably the best it’s been in 20 years.”
Mike says the current fishing year has been “exceptional” and thinks the next one will be even better. “The Springs Box area is not too far for moms and dads to go with the kids. There’s lots of snapper. Everyone is all happy days at the moment.”
The next generation of fishers, too, are embracing the Springs Box agreement, setting it up for further decades of success.
Napier local and third-generation recreational angler Brett Rigby has stepped into many regional roles, including Captain of the Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club and co-chair of the finance committee for the New Zealand Sports Fishing Council. He agrees that in the past decade fishing in the area has improved dramatically.
“It's something we're quite proud of, really, because we're one of the only regions in the country that has an agreement between recreational and commercial fishing. I reckon this should be a great model for a lot of areas – we're lucky in Hawke's Bay. There's no other group like this anywhere around the country, and we're able to take things on a local basis.”
Wayne, Brett and Mike all believe the collaborative model developed in Hawke’s Bay could and should be replicated elsewhere. Wayne’s advice?
“Sit around the table, look each other in the eye and talk about it. First pick the low fruit, and then once you gain each other's respect anything's achievable, I reckon. And that's the way, in my view, fisheries should be run – just dialogue, just getting on with people.”
“It’s a good thing,” Mike agrees. “I think we’ll keep it going for a while.”
