Pole Fishing For Tuna

A Government tuna fishing survey was recently conducted off the East Coast by four Gisborne fishing boats.

One of the vessels, the physalie, concentrated on pole fishing, in which the fishermen stand on specially-fitted poling racks on the sides of the boat, and manually pull the fish from the water.

Live herring bait, kept in a tank on the deck, was used to attract the tuna once they were located.

On board the Physalie for the survey was a representative of the Australian Government, Mr Ken Johnson.

Shortly after taking part in the tuna survey, the Physalie caught a Gisborne port record catch of 50,000 pounds, taken mainly from the waters of the Bay of plenty.

(pictures from Mr Wally Shadgett, skipper of the Physalie).