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August 27, 2026
Results from the most recent survey estimating snapper mortality due to recreational fishing were published by Fisheries New Zealand in July 2026. That research found that around 250 tonnes of snapper in northern waters die annually when discarded by recreational fishers. A large percentage of those discarded fish were in the Hauraki Gulf, around 23% ... Read more.
August 27, 2026
Release mortality is the fish that are caught, returned to water, then die. For snapper, two things drive it: the depth a fish is caught in (deeper water brings a higher risk of barotrauma, swim bladder damage that can stop a fish getting back down) and where it’s hooked (a fish hooked in the throat ... Read more.
August 27, 2026
Most released snapper live. Survival rates largely depend on fishing depth and where the fish is hooked. Gill hooked and gut hooked fish have the worst survival rates. In the most recent study, only about 3% of snapper were seen floating at the surface, and considered ‘dead’. It is likely that some snapper that swam ... Read more.
August 27, 2026
No. Improved research into recreational catch is welcome, and the most recent study is a good example of it. However, the figures don’t expose a hidden gap: release mortality is built into how catch limits are set. The current 450 tonne allowance for mortality in the northern snapper fishery adequately covers the estimated 250 tonnes ... Read more.
August 27, 2026
Most released snapper survive, however a few simple changes can support a greater survival rate: Fish shallow where you can. A 2026 Fisheries NZ study found survival is highest for fish caught in less than 15m deep. Fish brought up from deeper water are more prone to barotrauma – swim bladder damage that limits them ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
The environment must come first. Under the Fisheries Act 1996, the Minister must first ensure the stock and the wider marine environment are sustained, before deciding how much can be caught – and where a fishery has fallen too low, the law requires a genuine plan to rebuild it. On that basis, there needs to ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Tarakihi is mostly targeted by bottom trawling. Around two-thirds of commercially caught tarakihi is taken on fishing trips where tarakihi is the target species, with the rest coming up alongside other species in mixed trawl fisheries. Most of the catch is a choice about where and how to fish, not something unavoidable which means catch ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Very little. Tarakihi is one of New Zealand’s staple table fish. Around 95% of tarakihi caught is sold and eaten right here in Aotearoa, not shipped overseas. That’s why the state of the stock matters so much to ordinary Kiwis, this isn’t a distant export commodity, it’s a fish New Zealanders catch or buy to ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Fisheries New Zealand now assesses and manages tarakihi as two stocks, eastern and western. The science has indicated the two coasts have different nursery grounds, spawning areas, age patterns, and catch trends, and both age-composition and genetic studies point to fish being largely distinct. On the east coast, juvenile fish grow up mainly around Canterbury ... Read more.
April 15, 2026
Over time, we can expect fewer fish in the water and a degraded marine environment, impacting generations to come.
