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Story: Economic history

Chatham Islands crayfish boom

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One of the quarrying booms in the post-war period was the crayfishing boom in the Chatham Islands. In 1964 the main fish caught around the Chathams was cod, and almost no crayfish were caught commercially. By 1968, 5,900 tons of crayfish were sent out of the Chathams, mostly for export. Howard Page had been a cod fisher and he talks of the scene in the Chathams when he came down to hunt for crayfish about a year after the boom had started.

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Reference: 16192

Image: Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685), EP/1968/4295/9a

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How to cite this page

Brian Easton, Economic history – Great boom, 1935–1966, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/speech/24353/chatham-islands-crayfish-boom (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Brian Easton, published 12 April 2010.