Roughy on the Rise The Story of New Zealand's Most Controversial Fishery

About this book

Roughy on the Rise charts the discovery of this mysterious deepwater fish, its exploitation, its depiction by environmental NGOs as the epitome of unsustainable fishing, the slow unlocking of its secrets, its key role in bankrolling the development of the New Zealand seafood industry – and latterly its recovery.

Tim Pankhurst records the excesses of the roughy gold rush in its early years in remarkably candid interviews with skippers and crews, politicians and scientists. Despite mistakes made, the evidence is that well managed fisheries can and do recover. The Marine Stewardship Council has recognised this by affixing its ecolabel, the international gold standard of sustainable fisheries, to New Zealand's three major orange roughy fisheries. That certification is a remarkable testament to a turnaround in one of the world's most controversial fisheries.

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Biography

Tim Pankhurst, a journalist of 35 years and editor of four metropolitan dailies, now heads Seafood New Zealand, the industry’s peak body. He took on the assignment of writing the story of orange roughy on the condition it be a warts-and-all account.