Commercial and recreational fishers were seeing snapper in the SNA 1 Quota Management Area with white, mushy flesh rather than their usual translucent, firm flesh. These fish were identified as being malnourished and this syndrome was called the Milky White Flesh syndrome.

To work out how widespread the syndrome was, NIWA collected information from commercial and recreational fishers on whether a snapper had the syndrome and where it had been caught.

Environmental information, such as sea surface temperature, was also examined to see if any changes had occurred in the period before fish with the syndrome were seen.

Snapper with the syndrome were found in large numbers from east Northland down to the Hauraki Gulf. The Bay of Plenty was generally unaffected.

The combination of a long La Niña period with warm sea surface temperatures, low productivity (and therefore less food at the bottom of the food chain), and a big increase in the number of young snapper appears to have contributed to the syndrome.

Understanding where affected fish are and possible causes can help with effective monitoring of this important snapper stock.

Document date
Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Document type
V 1.3

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Adobe PDF

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5.1 MB

Reference number
2024/25

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AUTHOR: ohnson, K.S.; Gadd, J.; Bian, R.; Noll, B.; Pinkerton, M.H.; Taylor, R.; Madden, B.; Parsons, D.M.;

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