A HARD DAY AT THE OFFICE

A mate sent us this -  the southern oceans at their raw and powerful best......   Next time you think you pay too much for fish  - remember these pics.

EELS ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW DECADE

Eels getting prepared for smoking by dad. Yum

SUPPLE TO THE TOUCH.

Whale penis leather.... Now we know why the Japanese really want whales. Their pizzles.

Funny thing is a few ( actually many ) years back we looked at the seal pizzle trade. It was very big in some countries but more as an aphrodisiac but as a food as well. And as you can see at two hundred quid a plate - it was a lucrative trade.
We are also aware that our cousins in the deep south are putting together a case to harvest seals around Stewart Island as their numbers are such that they are becoming a nuisance
So the Ruskies have bought out the most expensive SUV in history.. The Prombron. Its reeks of testosterone and its seats are carefully and artfully upholstered in whale penis leather.

REAL TOUGH JOBS

Now we have been keeping a watching brief on all the whingy whining about MP's lives and how tough it is. Sure its not easy. But they have a choice. These guys have a choice too. I leave it up to you to decide who really has the tough job.

Here's an extract from Captains Blog about life on the southern briny.

There are some days you would rather not be here. Today we have a Southerly storm blowing 50kts and 8meter seas with sleet and snow straight off the pack ice. We know, from satellite images, that the winter pack ice is now only 200 mile to the South of us.

The air temp is -8 outside and water temp 0.

Crew in the hauling room have to rotate every 2 hours so they can thaw out with hot coffee and get dry gloves before going back on deck to finish their shift.

On the bridge it gets difficult for the driver to see through the icy windows and keep the ship on the line without letting too many big buggers (waves) pore in on top of the hauling crew.

Sam, the observer, is doing his line observations for this line from inside today. Meanwhile, in the factory and hook room, the rest of the crew are getting on with their jobs while holding on with one hand as the ship rocks, pitchers and rolls through another rough day.

SNAPPERED

Today we caught fish - lots of little fish - Snapper. After hooking 5 babies we got the equivalent of a 15 yr old in a boob tube = barely legal. Then we caught a Kahawai . Snapper sashimi and smoked Kahawai for dinner - fantastic.
We love Mangonui. We will be back .

GOIN FISHIN

We are in Mangonui, stunning place. Had flounder for breakfast - Bliss - eat ya heart out... pity the poor people.

GOOD ON YA ARCHIE

Now more that ever we need Maori to work together.

Archie has always been one of our favourite Maori leaders, he is a quiet but steely man and very gracious.
It ia times like these we need leadership..

Press Release by Te Ohu Kaimoana - The Maori Fisheries Trust at 10:02 am, 30 Jan 2009

Te Ohu Kaimoana has now transferred more than $440 million worth of Fisheries Settlement assets to iwi - a resource that could play a key role in helping Maori come through the current global economic crisis, the organisation's Chairman Archie Taiaroa told Maori leaders today.

Speaking at Te Ohu Kaimoana's annual meeting which was opened by Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley in Wellington, Mr Taiaroa, said wise use of the Settlement resources by iwi, particularly in the regions, can help keep Maori employed.

"We must look at ways of assisting our people through these tough times - and by doing so look after our country - through putting our economic resources back into the regions to allow our people to manage their own economic base.

"Maori and iwi are significant players in fisheries, and we should all be looking at how we can utilise Settlement resources to support our people at this difficult time," Mr Taiaroa said.

He told delegates that 48 of the nation's 57 iwi now had Mandated Iwi Organisations (MIOs) to which assets could be allocated and, crucially, 25 iwi now had full or partial coastline agreements.

Under the Maori Fisheries Act, the Fisheries Settlement is allocated to MIOs on the basis of an iwi's size and the agreed length of its coastline.

"Te Ohu Kaimoana is putting a tremendous amount of work into assisting neighbouring iwi reach coastline agreements, and a lot has been achieved in the last year," Mr Taiaroa told delegates, including Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley.

Mr Taiaroa said Taranaki had been a particular success story with the first big group of six adjoining MIOs - Ngati Mutunga, Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Nga Ruahine, Ngati Ruanui and Nga Rauru - having "come to the very wise conclusion that co-operation was in their mutual best interests".

He said after many years, Ngati Kahungunu and Rangitane on the North Island's east coast have come to agreement, and Ngapuhi have settled all their coastline through a number of agreements with other iwi.

"I can't emphasise enough that our future success is all about how we co-operate as iwi," he said.

GREENY BULLSHIT ABOUT HOOKER SEALIONS

The standard is going crook about new Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley increasing the allowable sealion bycatch for the squid industry.

We know this issue very, very well. There is nothing "threatened" about the Hooker Sealion population - there are thousands of the buggers in and around the oceans way south of New Zealand where the squid fishery is largely based. Note the use of the word "threatened" rather than "endangered" - which does mean that something is demonstrably in trouble.

BB gets up close and personal ( well as close as you can get considering their propensity to suffer from cetacean halitosis) with these wonderful creatures on a regular basis. We have even hand feed them and swum with them. Never stand in their poop. It is as vile as animal poop gets. Its normally white with little fishy bits in it and very slippery and it sticks to rubber like - well poop sticks to rubber. And they will chase you on land but in the water they dont seem to give a shit about you.

So the Standard and Forest and Bird are getting all hysterical because National has imposed a much more realistic level of by catch from 81 to 113.

Now, in 1998 lots of pups died from some mysterious bug. Curiously and importantly, overcrowding was not discounted as a possible factor in the spread of the unknown malady.

Up until that point there were an estimated 15,000. In 2003 it was estimated that the population was about 13000. Both of these figures are wildly speculative and considered to be a underestimate of actual number which fisheries experts put at about 20,000 . There is a population of about 30 - 35 that resides in Small craft in Port Pegasus. DOC estimated it at the time to be 5 -1o animals which has been one reason we have never trusted their estimates. As you will witness from the pics - an young one on the left and an old beachmaster on the right - they spend quite a bit of time deep in the bush. These two were photographed by BB about 1km inland up a fresh water creek with towering rimu all around.
So DOC takes pics of the ones on the beach - not the ones in the bush - which at any time seem to be about half the population.

They are truly magnificent animals and we were deeply upset when a fisherman shot some of them a few years back and left them to rot on our island beach. However we are also pragmatic and the Squid industry is an important one for New Zealand the forth largest in earnings at 86 million a year.

So at less than one percent this bycatch is still very, very low.

DOC's lickspittles over at Forest and Bird should look at other burning issues like cats on Stewart Island which do huge amounts of damage to small bird life instead of twittering and tweetering about the minimal collateral damage to yet another species of, to coin a phrase from Ta Tipene O'Regan, "charismatic mega fauna." But then thats the rub, F and B wouldn't get much traction for calling for a cull of a heap of bad pussies. So, instead, they just pick on the causes that will appeal to an animal cuddling public to ensure the donations keep flowing. How venal.