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Kōrero: Fishing industry

Baited longlines

Audio file

In longline fishing, very long lines are strung with many baited hooks and drawn through the water. Malcolm Harrison, an Auckland longline fisherman, talks about landing snapper and gurnard in the late 1950s.

Transcript

Usually on the Saturday and we would unload the fish into the trailers or bring the boat round, depending on the weather, about half past five Sunday morning and we would be here by six o'clock. Anything between oh 50 to 60 people waiting there. This is mainly because we were bringing in top quality fresh fish, we gilled and gutted our fish as we caught them. This was snapper mainly, snapper and gurnard actually. So they were getting a good quality product that they couldn't really buy in the fish shops. Mainly because back in those days the standard of looking after fish and handling fish was very very poor.

Interviewer: So we're talking about the early sixties, are we?

Yeah, well it's the late 50s

Interviewer: Late 50s.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 1519

Image: Seafood New Zealand, Paul Morris

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Carl Walrond, Fishing industry – The fishery in the 2000s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/speech/6374/baited-longlines (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Carl Walrond, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.