Protect Our Crayfish – Have Your Say
Thank you for standing up for our marine environment. Crayfish on the northeast coast – from Te Arai Point to East Cape – are again threatened.
Fisheries NZ is proposing to increase to the commercial catch limit for crayfish, putting our taonga (treasured) species, at greater risk. Fisheries NZ’s proposal to close the inner Hauraki Gulf to crayfishing is meaningless because there are few crayfish left in those waters.
LegaSea are developing a formal submission recommending a recovery plan that includes –
- No increase to the total allowable commercial catch.
- Potential closed areas; and
- Investment in independent science to prove how many crayfish can be harvested sustainably.
Depletion is not new. Nine years ago crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf were declared functionally extinct. Since then an explosion of kina gorging on kelp has been stripping whole rocky reefs of all life. On the northeast coast kina barrens have taken over much of the seafloor.
Our crayfish are vital for restoring balance in our marine ecosystems, but again Fisheries NZ is using unverified data to justify giving away more quota to commercial interests.
This decision would benefit a few quota investors, while the environment – and our future generations – lose.
By submitting, you can help protect our crayfish and give them a fighting chance to recover.
Complete the form below to send your submission directly to Fisheries NZ. Together we can strive to protect our crayfish for generations to come.
Submissions close at 5PM, Wednesday 29 January 2025.
Related articles
September 16, 2025
You know you must be getting close to the truth when officials propose to change the law to reduce accountability. So it is with crayfish. After losing a string of court cases challenging recent Ministerial decisions, Shane Jones has arbitrarily decided to amend the Fisheries Act to severely limit the public’s time and ability to ... Read more.
September 16, 2025
Years of ineffective management have contributed to the depletion of crayfish populations along Northland’s east coast known as the CRA 1 fishery. Now at crisis point, the depletion can no longer be ignored. Fisheries NZ has proposed a range of management measures to address the depletion. These will affect commercial and recreational fishing for red ... Read more.
September 16, 2025
Crayfish numbers in areas across the Hauraki Gulf, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel are depleted. In response, Fisheries NZ has proposed drastic management measures that could impact the Kiwi summer you’ve been dreaming about all winter. FNZ proposals include a closure to crayfish harvesting in east Northland, and extending that closure to include the coastline ... Read more.
August 27, 2025
From Mahurangi Matters, August 2025. There was a time when packs of crayfish marched in their thousands from East Cape up the northeast coast. The seafloor hidden beneath a moving mass of antennas and limbs – a magnificent sight. Today these marches are rare. Instead, red rock lobster populations across east Northland are at crisis ... Read more.
August 27, 2025
Thank you to everyone who answered the call in our last email. Together, we raised close to $10,000 to fuel the fight for our fish. That show of support was powerful – it tells us that thousands of Kiwis are ready to stand up against a system designed to protect industrial fishing interests at the ... Read more.
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 ... Read more.
February 17, 2025
Published in Mahurangi Matters, February 2025 A couple of hours, snorkel, mask and a diving buddy used to be all you needed to bring home a couple of crays you promised to share with family and friends. Now, we’re left with broken promises and empty hands. Crayfish populations in the Hauraki Gulf are so depleted ... Read more.
January 23, 2025
Media Release A new proposal to increase commercial crayfish catch limits threatens to deplete already dangerously low crayfish populations in significant coastal areas of east Northland and the Hauraki Gulf. Fisheries NZ is looking to increase commercial catch limits on the northeast coast of New Zealand between Te Arai Point and East Cape, an area ... Read more.
January 22, 2025
We hope you’re feeling recharged after the summer break because we’ll need every ounce of energy to tackle what may be the most shocking example of regulatory capture by the commercial fishing industry yet. Right now, we’re staring down the grim reality of a proposed commercial catch increase in CRA 2 (Te Arai Point down ... Read more.
March 20, 2024
A part of being a good Kiwi is sticking up for our neighbours when something’s not right. Now is the time to support our whānau living around the North Island’s east coast, as their crayfish is under threat. We need to work together as crayfish are a national taonga, a treasure. Local communities, Māori, and ... Read more.
