Download FAR 2024/66 Camera survey of scallops in the SCA CS Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island and Colville Channel areas, 2022.

New Zealand scallops (Pecten novaezelandiae) are a species of shellfish that live on the seabed in sandy coastal areas. Scallops support highly-valued commercial and non-commercial (customary and recreational) fisheries, but fishery closures have been put in place due to sustainability concerns.

In the Coromandel (SCA CS) scallop stock in northeastern New Zealand, the fishery was closed from 1 April 2022, except for within two defined areas in the Hauraki Gulf that remained open to scallop fishing, one at Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island and one in the Colville Channel.

Scallop populations in these two areas were surveyed between June and August 2022 using a camera-based survey method. The method involved lowering a camera system into the sea from a boat and taking photographs of the seabed at different sites within the two areas. The photos were examined and scallops in the images were labelled, counted and measured.

The abundance of scallops was low compared to previous years. Few high-density scallop patches were observed. Based on these results, the Little Barrier and Colville Channel areas were closed to scallop fishing in December 2022.