Download FAR 2025/04 Recreational harvest of southern bluefin tuna in New Zealand, 2023–24

Holdsworth, J.C. (2025). Recreational harvest of southern bluefin tuna in New Zealand, 2023–24. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2025/04. 22 p.

We estimate the annual recreational catch of southern bluefin tuna in New Zealand for the 2023–24 October fishing year. This information helps meet the obigation to report all of New Zealand’s catch of this species to the Commission for Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna each year.

Tuna numbers and weights are collected from a number of sources including:

sportfishing club weigh station records;
a monthly telephone survey of South Island fishers;
catch records from online reporting on the fishcatch.co.nz web page;
catch records from recreational charter boats;
records of recreational catch taken from commercial vessels for personal use; and
boat ramp interviews at Waihau Bay in the eastern Bay of Plenty (where most of the recreational catch is landed).
The estimated 2024 recreational harvest of southern bluefin tuna is 992 individual fish, which is fewer than in 2023 (1241 fish).

The estimated total landed weight for the recreational fishery is between 65 and 73 tonnes with a mid-point of 69.5 tonnes.