Snapper

Snapper

Snapper
Snapper is a popular fish, prized by Maori, commercial and recreational fishers alike. The resource has been overfished and in the early 1980s the future of the snapper fishery was in doubt. Overall, the decline in snapper fisheries appears to have been halted, but in some areas, for example the Hauraki Gulf, snapper are still under pressure.

Commercial importance
Commercially, snapper is one of New Zealand's most important fish. The catch increased from less than 4 000 tonnes in 1931 to peak at more than 14 000 in the late 1970s. By 1991 the catch had reduced to 7 670 tonnes. Stocks in several areas are considered to be below their productive levels because of overfishing.

Snapper is New Zealand's most valuable coastal fish species. In addition to local sales, about $50 million worth of snapper was exported each year in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The main market for snapper is Japan, which mostly takes chilled whole fish and a growing amount of live snapper. High prices for iki jime ( stab death) fish are fetched, which requires live fish to be killed by a spike driven through the brain. Australia is also an important market for snapper.

The snapper industry has been controlled by a wide range of regulations, including: limited licensing ( until 1963), closed areas and seasons. a minimum size limit, mesh size limits, an annual quota in some areas from the late 1970s, and a controlled fishery in the Hauraki Gulf from 1983 to 1986.
None of these methods managed to stop overfishing. Concern about overfishing was one of the reasons behind the introduction of the Quota Management System.

Food
Snapper are carnivores. Small snapper feed mainly on small crustaceans and worms. Larger snapper eat fish and larger, hard bodied animals such as sea eggs (kina) , crabs and shellfish. Snapper are very adaptable and if one type of prey becomes scarce they can change their eating habits.

Age growth and mortality
Snapper are relatively long lived and slow growing. They have been known to live to at least 60, grow to a length of 100 cm and weigh 15 kg or more.