The 2022-23 National Panel Survey to estimate recreational catch found that New Zealanders land around 5,500 tonnes of fish per annum.
This survey was conducted nationwide by Fisheries New Zealand between 1 October 2022 and 30 September 2023. The previous Survey was conducted in 2017-18.
Excluding aquaculture, the Fisheries New Zealand research reveals that annual recreational fishing harvest represents less than 2% (1.6%) of total harvest from New Zealand marine waters, including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In 2024 total commercial harvest from all New Zealand waters was more than 338,000 tonnes.
The Panel Survey recruits 1% of all recreational fishers using proven survey methods and tracks their fishing and catch for a whole year. These results are particularly robust for larger fisheries where there is good data on the number of fishers, popular methods, the mean weight of fish and the number of fish landed per person. As in 2022, the most popular landed catch was –
- Snapper.
- Kahawai.
- Blue cod.
In 2022-23 more than half of all recreational fishing occurred on the North Island’s northeast coast between North Cape and East Cape.
The National Panel Survey delivered credible results that have been corroborated by two independent surveys in key fisheries. These surveys by NIWA and NRB have been peer reviewed by a panel of international experts which rated them highly.
Sources:
National Panel Survey 2022-23 – full report
Commercial harvest. Fisheries NZ
