Glimpse - Your Stories from Abroad

The day begins early for Teone and Pete. There are no guarantees on the water, so fishermen must take advantage of every ounce of daylight. We travel in silence, Teone and Pete taking turns in makeshift sleeping quarters below the deck.

Old boats like The Noeline require constant attention. “She’s always springing leaks,” Teone says. He spends an average of $30,000 dollars per year on boat repairs and maintenance.

As Teone and Pete unwind the trawl net, standing precariously close to the edge of the boat, I am reminded of the American TV series, “The Deadliest Catch.” Teone begins to recite the names of family members and friends who have died at sea. If a fisherman isn’t careful, he can easily be swept away by the rough waters. “We are fortunate today,” he says, “because the seas are calm.”

Despite, or perhaps because of, the constant danger and uncertainty of the sea, fishing is a lucrative business: that is, if you are willing to put in the time. “The old bloke who had her [the boat] last became a billionaire in 25 years,” Teone claims.

“A little bit of everything,” Teone answers when I ask him what he plans on catching. He points out to his brother-in-law’s boat on the horizon. “I’m not going to tell him where the good fishing is, just like he isn’t going to tell me. It’s every man for himself in the fishing industry.”

This particular trawl brings in about 700 pounds of elephant fish. The species was harvested to near extinction, but has recently been revived. Fishing in New Zealand is a constant cycle of growth and decline.
 

When the gutting begins, hundreds of seabirds flock to the scene. Some, like these White-Capped Albatross, get caught in the lines and die. “But for every one we kill,” Teone notes, “we feed a hundred.”

Many of Teone’s ancestors were fishermen, but others were “members of parliament, lawyers… even fighting chiefs,” he adds with a grin. He is a direct descendant of Chief Taiaroa, a fierce Maori leader who ruled this part of the southern island.

“The Maori people have always had a special connection with the sea,” says Teone as we arrive at the dock. He and his son have filled 40 bins with fish in just three trawls on today’s voyage. “It was a good day for fishing,” he says. “Usually we don’t come home until dark.”

Pete is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. He says there is nothing for him at school, and that fishing has made him a better man. It is what he loves and knows how to do, and Teone believes he will make a fine fisherman.

After the trip, The Noeline lost her steering at a cost too great to warrant repair. And so ends this chapter in the boat’s rich life: from Depression-era pleasure boat, to Cook Straight freighter, to Picton-Wellington ferry, to Marborough Sound mail boat.

The Noeline was made some 70 years ago with wood from the virgin forests of Stewart Island. According to Teone, “The boat-makers used to look at a tree and say, ‘She’ll be a 40-footer, she’ll be a 50-footer ...’ ” Nowadays boat parts get shipped in from all over the world. Still, says Teone, “you can have the best boat in the world”—he pauses, pointing to his head—“but if you don’t have it up here, you’re not gonna catch any fish.”