From hook to plate, a small fishing venture at the bottom of the country is changing the way it's doing things – and the world is noticing, writes Alison Watson.
After 40 plus years in the fishing industry, Andrew Leask gave it all up. He retired his commercial license, deregistered his boat, Gypsy, and decided to get out of an industry that felt like it had extracted every last bit of joy and enthusiasm he held for his livelihood.
Leask, 59, comes from a long line of boat builders and fishermen. Generations of his family have lived on Stewart Island, and fishing and the ocean is part of his DNA, but he got to the stage where he found it hard to lift a rod for a spot of recreational fishing.
By chance, we share a DOC hut one night on Stewart Island. I'm at the end of a seven day hike, he is passing through on a three day break. It's after the brief introductions and small-talk that we strike up an unusual conversation about fishing.
The quietly-spoken Leask tells a story straight and dry. He says he left the fishing industry because he suffered burn-out from the stress of meeting fish quota demands, working long hours and having multiple bosses.
"You just take all the fish you can, on super tight schedules, and it's constant pressure to get all your quota. It's a grind with huge turnover but with very little to show for it in the end. I'd had a guts-full."
Then something unexpected happened.
He was contacted by family friend, Nate Smith, who needed help with his fishing business, Gravity. It was a different type of fishing that required short stints on the boat, small catch, and quality over quantity. Leask took the job, and to his surprise, enjoyed it.
Leask was given a specific order to catch, to match fish pre-ordered by restaurants. On a two-day trip, it might be a selection of blue cod, wrass and trumpeter. To catch those fish, he was required to use electronic jigging technology.
The technology, developed in Iceland, allows a fishing line, with six to 10 hooks, to be dropped in the water at specific depths and moved, "jigged", in a way to imitate bait-fish. With this method, any fish caught are likely to be on the line for only seconds to a minute. It requires hunting skills Leask clearly relishes.
"It's a challenge because it's not easy to fish again like that. You have to think back to where you might have caught these fish in years gone by and then target just that species. So, I have to think about how and where I'm going to get 10kg of trumpeter, for example, which is around 10 fish. Fishing in that way is using your brain."
Onboard, the fish are killed immediately by iki-jime method, a Japanese way of killing fish by a spike through the brain, and then carefully packed in ice.
Leask believes this type of fishing is more sustainable for wild fish stocks. "You don't just rake over the whole fishery and take everything. And you also treat the fish differently. You deal with them as soon as you pull them up, so they are not left flapping around dying."
Nate Smith launched Gravity last July and is struggling to keep up with demand.
Based in Bluff, Smith, like Leask, comes from a fishing family. Despite trying other things since leaving school he was always drawn back to the industry. Now 33, with a young family and thriving business, he wants to inspire a new approach to how we catch and value our wild fisheries.
Smith is adamant there is a need for change to commercial fishing, particularly down in the Southland region, known as Area 5 under the Quota Management System (QMS) under which sustainable catch limits are set.
It's at Southland and Stewart Island that Smith is particularly worried about blue cod. On a boat since around the age of three, he remembers his father and others, like Leask, hauling in huge catches of it. But the good old days of plentiful supplies are over, he says.
"We just keep taking the fish out, because the quota is there and that's what we are allocated. But the amount being taken out is more than the fishery can sustain."
Smith isn't afraid to question the sustainability of his industry. He loves fishing and the environment, and he wants the best for both.
"I've been fishing for many years and my family has been involved for a long time. I've seen its demise. And morally I want to do something to change that."
Smith and Leask are not the only ones frustrated with how our fisheries are being managed.
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash promised "greater innovation in the way we fish and the way we manage the resource" when he launched Fisheries New Zealand last May.
But shocking cases of fish dumping and unreported catch, growing calls from experts and environmental groups calling for a review of the QMS, and disagreement within the coalition government over fisheries policy, are contributing to rising tension.
Roots Chef Giulio Sturla prepping some crayfish tails in the restaurant kitchen.
Last year leaked Government reports exposed cases where thousands of tonnes of fish had been dumped and unreported by fishing firms. In November, the proposed appointment of Environmental Defence Society's Raewyn Peart to an existing technical advisory panel, and its revitalisation as a source of expert advice on making fishing sustainable long-term, was scuttled.
Allegedly, NZ First objected to her appointment and didn't think the panel was needed. Greenpeace NZ head Russel Norman was frank on his frustrations at the time: "We now have a case where the Labour/NZ First Government is taking a worse position on fishing than the National Party."
Professor Liz Slooten, from Otago University, says although the Ministry for Primary Industries initiated a review in 2016, it was moving too slowly and they were reluctant to review the QMS which was "in serious need of an overhaul".
The QMS, in place since 1996, sets an annual total catch limit for fish stock in each management area. This is shared across user groups, including recreational fishers. The bulk of the catch is allocated to commercial fishers and divided across operators. The system has been lauded as an international model of good fisheries management. New Zealand fishing companies, part of a $1.4 billion export industry, draw on its reputation as "world-leading", as proof of their sustainability.
But for Slooten and others, a review is long overdue. She argues while there have been benefits, there have also been serious drawbacks which have incentivised bad practices, like fish dumping. And she believes the accumulation of quota has also led to the undue influence of a small number of fishing companies over government decision-making.
Smith believes that the big problem not being addressed is the method of fishing, particularly the impact of new efficient technology that might devastate fish stocks before appropriate limits are set. He thinks the blue cod catch limit in his patch is well above what the fishery can sustain and the use of cod pots - a cage like fishing trap using bait inside to attract fish - is not sustainable.
"It's basically bulk harvesting and that is not the way we should be getting our fish. Everything about it is wrong."
Leask once used cod pots extensively. He recalls a big day on the boat off Chalky Island, in Southern Fiordland, where he put down nine cod pots and hauled up around 720kg of blue cod. Now he believes, "they should be banned. They wipe out the fish stocks".
Smith believes he's the only one in New Zealand using jigging technology to catch fish commercially, but he's hoping it will catch on. He also wants young people to be attracted back to fishing as a career.
Slooten is enthusiastic: "It sounds like it would be a lot less damaging for the fish stock, and for other impacts of fishing on the environment, including marine mammals and seabirds." And she believes it's a good alternative to the volume rather than value approach which is "very damaging to target fish species and the wider environment".
Gravity fishing venture owner Nate Smith only catches to restaurant order.
Gravity delivers the fish unprocessed, so chefs can use every part. The head and bones might make stock, flesh into fillets, or the whole fish can be presented on the plate. Conventional fishing, in contrast, can create a lot of waste. Smith estimates for every tonne of fish fillets it requires 2.6 tonne of blue cod caught, creating 1.6 tonne of waste which goes straight back over the side of the boat into the ocean.
Economically, the model makes sense. Smith says he makes as much money as he would if he was trying to fish all his quota, but he catches four times less. And there is no shortage of willing buyers.
Companies from across the world, including big buyers from South Korea and Singapore, have approached Smith. But while he does have a small number of North America and Australian customers, he can't keep up with demand, and he remains largely indifferent about the big money on offer in export markets.
"Money isn't my main driver, to be honest. It's about making sure that New Zealanders get this product before selling it overseas. Too often we export our best product and don't enjoy it here, where it should be. I don't want to do that."
Roots Restaurant in Lyttelton seems like a world away from the fishing boats in Bluff. But it's here that Chef Giulio Sturla creates masterpieces in the kitchen.
Hāpuku is dry aged for at least 10 days before any flesh is removed from the carcass (and is then paired with artichokes and spinach). Sturla says the drying allows the flesh to develop a unique unami flavour and an incomparable texture.
Choosing to work with Smith was not a difficult decision for Chilean-born Sturla, who seeks out local suppliers striving for sustainability and quality. How ingredients are sourced is also important to him - he'll choose fish from the South Island, rather than fish from the North.
Roots Chef Giulio Sturla prepping fish fillets.
Sturla also likes the fish to have had as little human contact as possible before arriving at the kitchen door. It's part of giving respect to the fish itself, that the chef believes is important. But it also has practical benefits, with less bruising and better quality. He explains that cleaning fish is a skill which requires ongoing training and that the industry standard to throw away the head and the guts, before the boat comes to port, greatly affects its quality.
When the first delivery from Gravity came in a carton box, rather than a polystyrene one, Sturla thought this was "incredible". This is the future of fish on our tables, he thought.
"They are not cutting corners...People like (Nate) are striving harder than the big corporations. They are choosing the environment, their communities, their families, and people before anything else."
For Leask, "getting paid more, for less fish" has to be a better way. And he enjoys it. "I never thought I would ever say that again about fishing."
Dr Alison Watson is a freelance sustainability writer based in Singapore. She previously worked for the Ministry of Primary Industries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and United Nations Environment.
09012019 News Photo:David Walker/Stuff. Roots staff doing some prep in the restaurant kitchen for tonights service.