Treacherous bluefin hunting: 'There's big risks but also great rewards'

Rocket crashes and explodes after accidental launch in China

They come from all over to hunt for the prized southern bluefin tuna off New Zealand's North Island eastern seaboard. It's a hunt that last week claimed three lives. But, despite the tricky waters leaving most fishermen with close calls, they still go back.

It's a notorious stretch of water, along the North Island's eastern seaboard, where many a big game fisherman has a horror story to tell.

Since 2017 the likes of Waihau Bay, a picturesque rocky clad headland, has drawn people from all over New Zealand in winter to capture the prized southern bluefin tuna, but a week ago three fishermen didn't come back.

Elwood Higgins, Taina Sinoti and Damien MacPherson were experienced passionate fishermen, who went out with two other boats, in perfect weather conditions last Monday morning to hunt bluefin.

Gisborne-Tatapouri Fishing Club president Roger Faber, who was on one of the other two vessels, would later tell Stuff the breeze was under 5 knots when they left but increased to 10 knots further out from shore. As the wind and swell kept rising the two other boats made the decision to turn back at 11am.

He tried to radio Higgins, Sinoti and MacPherson but there was no response.

Their bodies would be found on Wednesday on the shore of Māhia.

As the tight-knit big game fishing community tried to come to terms with the tragedy it emerged that the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council released a podcast series about the risks of bluefin fishing in the area - two weeks before the fated fishing trip.

Now communications and operations manager Mike Plant hopes anyone fishing in the area will listen to the series.

"We are just trying to educate, especially for people out of town that it's pretty fearsome down there. There's big risks," he says, "but also big rewards."

The way Plant explains it, the problems with the stretch of water lie in the strong convergence of swells. If the wind changes that can lead to 2m waves "standing up vertically".

In short the tuna hunting ground comes with treacherous conditions that change quickly.

"Every boat has a close call kind of story where they were lucky to get home," Plant says.

Balancing the risk

So why fish for southern bluefin tuna if it's such a tricky stretch of water?

According to Plant, the answer lies in history. Originally the fishing grounds were overfished by Japanese longliners who were catching thousands of bluefin every year between the late 1950s to the 1980s.

By 1990 the bluefins were severely depleted to the point of being in danger of extinction, but after a long period of sustainable management, and government efforts to push the Japanese ships further out from the coastline, the tuna was back in abundance by 2017.

Plant says it soon became a "goldrush" for recreational fishermen who had never had the chance to catch the fish before, especially when they realised how close to shore the tuna were. He reckons part of the fish's attraction lay with its size. Bluefin caught on that part of the coastline can weigh between 30 and 150kg, creating a huge amount of kai that can feed a family, their friends and neighbours.

Then there's the taste - which some describe as being the best tuna in the world, he says.

Fisherman Toby Barkla agrees. The skipper at Cascade Charters based out of Whakatane says the bluefin's "beautiful to eat", but more than that, the fish provides a challenge.

"It's an awesome game fish to fight and they're so plentiful. Each year it's only improving in numbers."

Barkla says it's common to get a treble or quadruple strike in one day's fishing, whereas it can be weeks before you get a strike of marlin.

The problem he says, lies in the tuna swimming at depths of about 1000m, some 24 to 32km off the coast in exposed areas.

"Like Cape Runaway (in the Bay of Plenty) which has got a lot of currents and winds. So the risks are definitely there, but there but that's part of fishing. You just need to be aware of them and be prepared. Have as much safety equipment as you can on your boat and notify the Coastguard where you are going."

Barkla and the fishing community have all been impacted significantly by the trio's deaths.

"It's tragic. They were some of Gisborne's most experienced game fishermen. They've done more hours than most of the guys that are out there so it just goes to show it could happen to anyone - myself even."

He went on to say any tuna fishermen would tell you they've had close calls in the conditions due to unpredictable weather.

"You can read all the forecasts but it's just part and parcel of fishing, especially in those exposed areas that just change in a blink of an eye."

Importance of latest safety innovations

Some of those that have been involved in the recreational southern bluefin tuna harvest since its inception in 2017 have seen plenty of rogue boaties in their time.

According to the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council podcast, owner of TK Offshore Fishing, TK Walker, says the first year saw "some guys taking bloody stupid risks", including one person taking a dingy nearly 50km offshore to catch the tuna.

Another keen bluefin fisher from the Gisborne area, Elroy Thomson has witnessed inappropriate behaviour from boaties too, including launching at night when they've never been on that stretch of water before.

"There are a lot of rocks to be careful of… A lot of close calls go unreported."

Regardless of the risks, according to Blue Water Marine Research director John Holdsworth, the bluefin fishery has made New Zealand a 12-month game fishing business for those that charter - simply due to it filling a winter void.

Its sustainability has provided and will continue to provide plenty of opportunities and kai for our local fishermen.

From a fishery in desperate trouble to a booming delicacy bonanza, it also provides many people the chance to be up close to a beautiful fish, Barkla believes.

Just like Elwood Higgins, Taina Sinoti and Damien MacPherson, hundreds will flock to the winter waters this season in search of the bluefin.

The question then becomes, if the trio were so experienced, how could this tragedy have been prevented?

Both Toby Barkla and Mike Plant mention personal locator beacons when they're interviewed - not because they want to pre-empt an investigation, but because they want others to think carefully about investing in safety gear.

They also want people to know how dangerous the waters are.

As a committee member of the Whakatane Sport Fishing Club, Barkla has set up a bluefin tuna competition for this weekend to fundraise for the families involved and show competitors the very latest in safety gear.

No-one will be allowed to compete until they undertake a one-hour safety briefing.

The club has already raised close to $5000 and look set to raise a lot more as the fishing fraternity come to mourn three fathers, partners, husbands and sons.

Their deaths have left Barkla chewing over a lot of safety ideas, including using a personal locator bean that's attached to the fisherman rather than in a cabin.

"It's all that educational stuff we need to be learning."

Of no doubt, is the integrity and experience of the three men who lost their lives, which may lead to saving others.

Barkla shares the one thought on every bluefin hunter's mind.

"It could happen to any one of us."

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.