French Pass, D'Urville Island News

French Pass
French Pass Residents Association; in conjunction with the D'Urville Island Residents Association are working towards the establishment of a marine reserve in the area. Regular meetings are held by the association. Tentative dates are as follows, Tuesday June 13th, Tuesday August the 8th, Tuesday October 10th, Tuesday December the 12th, all meetings are at 7pm.

Mataitai; Ngati Koata the local Iwi have lodged an application with the Ministry of Fisheries for a Mataitai Reserve. The application and an explanation on this fisheries management tool can be obtained from MAF in Nelson.

D'Urville island
D'Urville Island Wilderness resort are upgrading their accommodation in time for this summer season. The café/bar is open throughout the winter and as well as having a high standard of cuisine will make up picnic lunches for groups. The café/bar offers ice, washing facilities and not showers to boaties as well as safe moorings. The café/bar is located in Catherine Cove just off the main shipping channel to French Pass.

Dolphins
Dolphin survey; this is being undertaken in June by American researchers. Swabs are taken and behavior patterns observed in the hope of giving us a better understanding of these wonderful creatures and their migration. The species being surveyed are the Dusky and after several years of research have been found to come from the summer Kaikoura Pods. These pods winter over and feed here through winter. It is fascinating watching these pods herd and meatball baitfish to feed which is different to their summer feeding habits in Kaikoura where they dive deep to feed on squid at night.

Blue Penguins
Watch for Blue Penguins when boating. Sometimes they are hard to see and can't get out of the way quick enough from a fast boat. We are losing our specie range at an alarming rate with three quarters of our remaining bird life now threatened. (see NZ biodiversity strategy).

Shark Dive
Shark diving has been good from French Pass. Blues and Mako have been consistent throughout thesummer right up to the end of April. Visibility has been clear which has provided some good photo opportunities.

Crayfish
New research shows that size does matter. When a female crayfish has her eggs fertilised by a large buck all eggs get fertilised. When she is fertilised by a smaller buck only partial fertilisation is achieved and the following year her ovaries will reduce in size only producing half the amount of eggs. This leads to a decline in eggs being produced ultimately leading to a decline in crayfish numbers. Looks like we need to change our regulations to accommodate the specie.

Fish
Snapper and groper are fishing well. Blue Cod are in good condition and if you live bait those deep reefs you will more than likely get more than you bargain for.