Fisheries: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Orange Roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) is a fishery that can be found in New Zealand where the fish are caught using bottom trawls. These fish live in the deep ocean, specifically seamounts and deep-sea coral reefs. There are four current impacts/concerns for this fishery right now. The first one is negative impacts on the fisheries due to the fact that the orange roughy has a longer lifespan. They take 20 years to fully mature causing them to reproduce at a slower rate and be more vulnerable to over fishing. The next problem that has resulted from this fishery is bycatch of various species. These species include black and smooth oreos as well as the black cardinalfish. The black and smooth oreos also have a slower growth rate like the orange roughy. The biggest bycatch concern for this fishery is coral bycatch where deepwater corals and sponges are destroyed. The next issue puts into question the effectiveness of the management of the fishery under New Zealand’s Quota Ma...