The practice of shark finning, illegal in many countries, is being brought into sharp focus in New Zealand as the Minister of Fisheries considers the introduction of shark species into the quota management system.

The NZ Big Game Fishing Council has raised the huge discrepancy between the estimates of shark catch and that which is reported - 45,000 fish as opposed to 15,000 in the case of the blue shark.

The council notes that catches of blue and mako shark by its members have declined rapidly as the surface long-line industry has expanded. Shark-fin prices have been rising steadily in recent years due to a worldwide decline in numbers.

In New Zealand waters, around 80 per cent of sharks taken on long-line come to the boat alive and could be released. Market figures indicate that more than two-thirds of the catch is finned, with the trunks discarded.

"The NZBGFC urges the Ministry of Fisheries to take heed of our international obligations and developments in other nations and ban shark finning," the organisation says in its submission on the introduction of quota management.

"Sharks should be landed only with their fins intact. This will provide an incentive for fishers to fully utilise their shark bycatch, or release it alive. The sale of shark fins should not be permitted to temporarily sustain the tuna longline fishery at the expense of shark populations if the tuna fishery is inherently uneconomic."

The surface long-line industry takes an allowable quota of around 4000 of the valuable southern bluefin and 3000 big eye tuna amongst tens of thousands of sharks.

The council also attacks industry's approach to the broadbill fishery and the Ministry of Fisheries' indifference to enforcing a voluntary agreement that commercial fishers not target broadbill.

The commercial by-catch of broadbill by tuna boats setting long-lines at night was 283 tonnes in 1996/97 and had leapt to 939 tonnes by the 1998/99 fishing season. It has since levelled off, with a decline in the average size and weight of fish caught.

The council contends that over-fishing internationally has resulted in increased pressure on New Zealand waters, which are seen as a last frontier.

If commercial tuna fishermen really wanted to avoid catching broadbill they would not use light sticks or set lines too shallow but those methods, used overseas to target broadbill, are common here.

The council wants a commercial minimum size set at 25kg and 1.25m (lower jaw to tail fork). It argues for a smaller commercial allowance than the 885 tonnes proposed by MFish and more than the 20 tonnes suggested as the recreational allowance.

Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope is due to release his decisions on the latest Quota Management System proposals, including kahawai, in July. The new limits would be imposed from the start of the next fishing season, on October 1.

* Reports from around the region indicate that the fishing has been lousy, mainly because of the weather.

Falling catch

* The recreational catch of blue and mako sharks has fallen dramatically.

* In 1994-95 the total mako catch was 1693 (288 weighed, 1405 tagged).

* For 2002-03 the total catch was 350 (109 weighed, 241 tagged).

* The total blue shark catch for 1996-97 was 382 (114 weighed, 268 tagged).

* For 2002-03, the total was 93 (30 weighed, 63 tagged).