10,000 baby snapper to be freed in Nelson

Crop and Food Research fish scientists plan to release 10,000 baby snapper they say may eventually boost recreational fishing in Tasman Bay.

Two batches of fingerlings between four and eight centimetres long are the first offspring raised by the scientists in the Crop and Food Research Port Nelson base.

The parents of the fingerlings were 60 large tank-dwelling snapper used in research aimed at improving the quality of seafood.

Fish biologist Alistair Jerrett says the fingerlings were raised to provide fish to support the research.

"But we were able to raise far more fish than we require so we will release the rest into the Nelson Haven."

The fingerlings will first spend the rest of this winter growing in tanks at Crop and Food Research or in sea cages in the Marlborough Sounds.

"By early spring they will be large enough to have a fighting chance at surviving the shags and other predators out in Tasman Bay."

Mr Jerrett was enthusiastic about the potential to revitalise the inshore snapper fishery: "What we'd love to do is play a part in bringing back the good old days of snapper fishing in Tasman and Nelson Bays.

Carol Scott, chief executive of Challenger Finfisheries Management Company, said the programme was a positive step towards increasing the existing wild stock.

"We are very supportive of additional research initiatives such as this," Ms Scott said. "We have also offered to help with the research by reporting the capture of fish that may be tagged as part of the snapper fingerling release programme."

Mr Jerrett and his team first had to learn how to grow snapper food - algae and plankton - and then harvest snapper spawn from the tanks. Some of the parent fish had been living in the Nelson laboratory tanks for nine years,.

"We felt that we could maximise the benefits to the Nelson region if we promoted the extra fish as a resource to explore stock enhancement or alternative rearing strategies for snapper, as well as using them for our on-going seafood quality research."

Crop and Food Research's post-harvest seafood research was working with the seafood industry to develop technologies and systems that would help companies earn as much as possible from every fish caught.

- NZPA