Kōrero: Marine conservation

A large catch of snapper was taken just off Nelson in the summer of 1977–78, but the Nelson Fisheries processing plant was closed for the Christmas holidays and much of the catch had to be dumped. Such incidents angered recreational anglers and fisheries scientists who felt that catches of large old snapper could not be sustained. The collapse of some inshore fish stocks, including snapper, in the late 1970s and early 1980s led to the introduction of the quota management system in 1986. This aimed to conserve fish stocks by limiting the total catch.