July 1, 2025
Blue cod isn’t just another fish. It’s the fish of the South, as iconic to the lower half of the country as snapper is to the north. It’s the one families plan holidays around, the one sizzling in the pan at the crib, blue cod are embedded in childhood memories of casting a line off the […]
June 30, 2025
“We don’t know what the recreational fishing sector is taking.” — Some guy on Facebook. It’s a comment we see usually from people trying to deflect the conversation away from the ongoing use of destructive fishing techniques, and from someone convinced that because they haven’t been interviewed at the boat ramp it never happens to […]
June 25, 2025
Published in Mahurangi Matters, June 9 2025 By Sam Woolford, LegaSea Project Lead As winter bites, many of us were left reminiscing about warmer days at last month’s Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show. For LegaSea, the show is a yearly highlight, connecting with passionate Kiwis about issues impacting our marine environment – from Caulerpa to […]
June 23, 2025
In 1901, the New Zealand Times published a warning about trawling in the Hauraki Gulf. It read: “Trawling is working fearful havoc on the feeding beds and spawning grounds on which we depend for our future supply…” That was 124 years ago. Trawling is the industrial dragging of large, weighted nets across the seafloor to […]
June 23, 2025
In the USA June 18 is National Go Fishing Day. We don’t have an equivalent celebration of recreational fishing in New Zealand, but it’s worth considering given that for centuries fishing has contributed to our survival, and our social, economic and cultural wellbeings. Kiwis spend a lot of money and time fishing, and the most […]
June 19, 2025
“Trawling and dredging in the Hauraki Gulf is fine because it’s always been mud.” – Some guy on Facebook. It’s a comment we’ve heard often as a method of deflection from those who – you guessed it – trawl. The Hauraki Gulf was once a thriving, living ecosystem, home to vast beds of green-lipped mussels […]
June 14, 2025
The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council and LegaSea have welcomed the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries’ decision to reject proposals for trawl corridors in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, however, both organisations insist the next step must be bold and decisive: a complete ban on all mobile bottom contact fishing methods, including bottom trawling, Danish […]
May 29, 2025
Kahawai, also known as the people’s fish, is dear to most Kiwi’s hearts. It’s the fish we caught first when we were kids off the rocks, the wharf, the beach or the dinghy with the dodgy outboard. So it’s apt that it has its own special day. National Kahawai Day, 28th May. Yes, we may […]
May 29, 2025
There’s a good reason why May 28th is National Kahawai Day. It’s the day in 2009 when the Supreme Court delivered its landmark decision confirming the public’s interests in having healthy fisheries. Non-commercial fishers have a right to quality fishing. The Court confirmed the Minister has a statutory (legal) obligation to set aside reasonable allowances […]
May 15, 2025
Published in Mahurangi Matters, May 2025. By Sam Woolford, LegaSea Project Lead. It’s been a roaring start to 2025 – proposals to allow commercial fishing in Highly Protected Areas in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, and reviews of our precious crayfish have kept us busy. The cherry on top is Shane Jones’ proposed changes to […]
