Summer Series - No 2: Kahawai, the people’s fish
Kahawai are an iconic species for recreational fishers. They are fantastic fighters and are found in most coastal
waters, harbours, and estuaries around New Zealand, in both the North Island and South Island.
Many New Zealanders will have memories of catching kahawai in the summer with their granddad, in a small boat, with a
spinner lure just off the coast, surrounded by a flock of sea birds.
The Bay of Plenty is an ideal habitat for kahawai and has some of the best catch rates. Kahawai are New Zealand’s
second most commonly caught recreational species after snapper. They are keen to take the bait.
Kahawai’s scientific name is Arripis trutta and they belong to the family Arripididae. They are noticeable in the
water, with speckled grey-blue to blue-green upper bodies.
“They are a solid, powerful, streamlined fish,” says NIWA fisheries scientist, Bruce Hartill. “They swim in small
groups, and in schools in excess of a million fish, often weighing in excess of 200 tonnes.”
Kahawai can cover vast distances quickly because of their speed. They are fast growing, and are a very reproductively
productive species compared to snapper.
They eat other fish, but mainly live on krill. The average size of a kahawai is 40–50 cm and 1–2 kg in weight. Females
grow larger (up to 60 cm in length), and can weigh up to 3 kg, often half a kilo heavier than males.
Kahawai become reproductively mature at about 40 cm, at about four years of age. They can live to be 26, but anything
over 20 is considered old age.
Kahawai are usually aged using a method similar to how the age of a tree is determined. A thin cross section from the
otolith, or ear bone, is made and the rings counted. The number of rings equals the age of the fish.
Fishing for kahawai The recreational catch limit for kahawai is 20 fish. Kahawai were introduced into the Quota
Management System in 2004. The commercial catch limit for the main fishery – between North Cape and East Cape – is 1075
tonnes, out of a national commercial limit of 2728.
The fish in the Hauraki Gulf during summer are usually much smaller and about two to three years of age.
The biggest kahawai ever caught was 79 cm. It was caught by a recreational fisher in the Waitangi Estuary, in Hawke Bay
in August 1997.
Kahawai are an oily fish, have a thick fillet, and are delicious smoked. Fisherman tend to bleed the fish as soon as
they catch it, otherwise it can have an oily taste.
Kahawai is an important traditional and customary food for Māori, especially in the East Cape area. Māori at the Motu
River used to bury the fish for up to a year to preserve them.
Māori used to fish for kahawai with flax nets that could be up to a couple of kilometres long, or with lures which had
shiny paua inserts. Some Māori have expressed concern over the state of their traditional fisheries for kahawai,
especially around the river mouths in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
Counting kahawai NIWA’s lead researcher for kahawai fisheries, Bruce Hartill, will have a team of interviewers
approaching recreational fishers at 21 boat ramps between Maunganui and Ohope during weekends from January to April
2011. The information collected during these interviews is used to monitor changes in the size and age composition of
the kahawai population, and the overall state of the fishery.
“It’s a voluntary survey; we interview on average 5000-6000 fishing parties during that period when most boats come in.
Most people are really co-operative. NIWA staff will be measuring kahawai, getting head samples, sampling commercial set
nets, and purse seines at the same time. We are aiming to measure 1500 kahawai for age and 4500 for length,” says
Hartill.
About Bruce Hartill: Hartill joined NIWA in 1995. He has been studying recreational fisheries for most of that time. In
2005 Hartill estimated that the recreational catch of kahawai between North Cape and East Cape was 530 tonnes.
To illustrate this story:
Download photos from http://ftpmedia.niwa.co.nz/summer_series/Kahawai/
Caption Kahawai
Photo credit Bruce Hartill, NIWA
Photo file name Kahawai(EMackay).jpg Caption Kahawai Photo credit Erika Mackay, NIWA
Other information about this item:
Species Fact File: Kahawai
Common names: Kahawai, the people’s fish
Māori name: Kahawai
Scientific name: Arripis trutta and Arripis xylabion
Type: Fish
Family: Arripididae.
Size: Kahawai grow rapidly, attaining a length of around 15 cm at the end of their first year, and maturing after 3–5
years at about 35–40 cm, after which their growth rate slows.
Northern kahawai,Arripis xylabion, grow considerably bigger than kahawai Arripis trutta and attain a maximum length of
at least 94 cm, but beyond this, little is known about the biology of A. xylabion.
Lifespan: Maximum 26 years Diet: Other fish, krill Reproduction: They spawn on the sea floor in deeper waters in
Feb - March.
Juvenile fish (0+ year class) can be found in shallow water in estuaries and along the foreshore.
Things you need to know: Northern kawahai A. xylabion is known to occur in the northern EEZ, at the Kermadec
Islands, and seasonally around Northland. It has longer fins; it looks similar, but grows much larger.
Something strange: They swim with fish of their own size. If you fish a school of kahawai you might catch snapper
as well because there is often snapper under them.
ends