File photo: Getty ImagesNew Zealand's bid to increase the amount of orange roughy commercial fishers can catch has hit a snag. "So the Scientific Committee that advises this commission has advised three different catch limits for the Tasman Sea based on the three stocks of orange roughy. One of the country's foremost experts on the seamounts where the corals grew and the orange roughy thrived, was Dr Malcolm Clark from Niwa. So it's important to spread the catch across seamounts and across the regions for both orange roughy and for limiting the unintended catch of the corals and sponges." It said its proposed doubling of the orange roughy catch was based on an assessment by scientists from the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 29, 2021 00:00 UTC