Chief Islander reviews start of the 2023/24 fishing season
News of the 2023 - 2024 Tristan da Cunha Fishing Season
Report and photos from Director of Fisheries and Chief Islander James Glass
on 6th November 2023
Fishery staff measuring the carapace of a Tristan lobster on 4th October,
as part of the collection of Catch at Length Data, needed to help set the TAC's.
The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the Tristan Islands was set as a total of 444,000kgs (444 tonnes) for the 2023-2024 fishing season by the Island Council.
TACs for the individual outer islands are as follows:
• Inaccessible: 111,000kgs with 50.2% of the TAC caught to date.
• Nightingale: 95,000kgs with 24.3% of the TAC caught to date.
• Gough: 113,000kgs with 52.5% of the TAC caught to date.
The Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Tristan was set at 125,000kgs.
There was a slight delay to the start of the season with the factory not being ready on the 1st July.
The first day fishing for the new season was on the 27th July with 5219.4kgs being caught.
Catches so far have been excellent with nine days fishing to date, landing a total of 65,281.4kgs (52.2% of Tristan's TAC).
Fishing boat 'Verkenner' with crew Shane Green and apprentice Kieran Glass loading the trays and checking for undersize at the bow, whilst crew member Steve Swain is at the stern sorting the gear, on the 26th October.
This boat landed 988.1kgs (2,178lbs) on the day, not bad for a boat that takes their fishing gear out in the morning and brings it back in the evening (no overnight sets allowed)
For this season the highest total catch landed so far by the nine local boats have been 9187.7kgs and the most caught by a single boat 1321.3kgs (2,926lbs). The fishermen are currently only using 16 traps and 32 hoop nets, and only doing daylight fishing. No gear is left overnight.
The docking time has now been reduced to 4pm, to try and restrict landings, so that more whole products can be packed for the markets. A few fishing days were also lost during the time the SA Agulhas was here as there was a bad flu virus going around.
The weather has also been terrible, lots of rain and easterly winds, with only one or two fine days a week. However, there will not be a problem to land the TAC before the deadline on the 30th April.
Sheep Shearing Day January 2023 |
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| The delayed 2022 Sheep Shearing Day took place on the 21st January 2023. 24-Jan-2023 |
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New Bulls added to Tristan's Livestock
Photos and Report from Martin Green
Two black Angus bulls arrived with MFV Edinburgh on Wednesday 30th November 2022. These were purchased from Philip de Waal in Swartland, South Africa to retire the current bulls (an Aberdeen Angus purchased in 2017 and a local bull from the artificial insemination program).
The bulls were transported to Tristan in two specially made bull crates. They were ferried ashore on the raft and transported to the paddock where once released enjoyed their freedom and fresh green grass. The Angus bulls are now adapting to their new environment.
The new bulls being loaded onto the MFV Edinburgh ready for the journey to Tristan Da Cunha
The raft used to transport the bulls from ship to shore.
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| The bull crate is carefully lifted from the raft and placed onto a tractor before being moved to the paddock | ||||
A quick check ensures all is secure
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| Enjoying the scenery while awaiting release | Pausing for a snack |
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| Relaxing after a long journey | |
Doing what bulls does best
Lobster quota for 2022/23 landed in just 18 fishing days. |
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| 120.5 tonnes caught by 11th November 2022 28-Nov-2022 |
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MFV Edinburgh's September-November 2022 Fishing Voyage |
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| The MFV Edinburgh departed Trstan on the 4th November 2022. 11-Nov-2022 |
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Start of the 2022/2023 Fishing Season |
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| A third of the Tristan island annual quota for crayfish was caught during July and August 2022. 5-Oct-2022 |
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MFV Edinburgh's February-April 2022 Fishing Voyage |
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| The MFV Edinburgh departed Tristan on the 4th April 2022. 4-Apr-2022 |
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Administrators visit Gough Island |
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| Fiona Kilpatrick and Steve Townsend made their first visit to Gough during the MFV Edinburgh's 2021 voyage. 9-Nov-2021 |
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