Articles

Hawke’s Bay artificial reefs

February 9, 2021 In January 2021, LegaSea Hawke’s Bay and the Napier Port team announced a second artificial reef has been constructed, located off Napier’s coastline at the ‘Gwen B’ shipwreck site. This second artificial reef follows on from the construction of a first larger artificial reef created last year, near Pania Reef with over 8000 cubic metres […]

Recreational fishers rallying support for Waiheke rāhui

January 30, 2021 The declining numbers of scallops, mussels, crayfish and paua has prompted Ngāti Pāoa to declare a rāhui banning all harvest of these species around Waiheke Island for two years and recreational fishers are supporting the initiative.  Representatives of the largest organisations of recreational fishing interests will attend the customary rāhui ceremony at 5.30am on Sunday […]

Public urged to support voluntary scallop ban

January 29, 2021 A voluntary ban has been put in place to stop all take of scallops from Opito Bay on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. The Opito Bay community is asking the public to respect the ban over the summer of 2020-21. Signs have been installed at local boat ramps and information is available at […]

No diving or dredging for Coromandel scallops

January 26, 2021 The clear, calm waters of Opito Bay hide the stark reality that very few scallops survive on the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. Once prolific scallop beds are so few and far between we now have an untenable situation. LegaSea has received multiple reports of commercial interests prospecting on the western side of Coromandel, […]

Paul Barnes obituary

January 20, 2021 Paul was a successful businessman who operated Paul’s Fishing Kites for 33 years, an inventor, a fisherman, and a conservationist. Paul and Peggy Barnes were the backbone of option4.co.nz. The 4 Principles that underpinned everything option4 stood for put us all on solid ground and made us safe to do the right thing. His advocacy […]

A wrap of 2020

January 18, 2021 The past 12 months has been a rollercoaster ride for most of us, and on the fisheries front the year has been equally undulating. After a couple of ‘nearly there’ Coronavirus-interrupted moments we finally launched the Rescue Fish campaign in late May. What’s more, our New Zealand Sport Fishing Council fisheries team had a record-breaking […]

Best antidote for 2020

January 10, 2021 After an off-season of uncertainty, lockdowns and boat maintenance the rewards are taking family and friends out on the boat. There’s nothing quite like the squeals from kids as they hook up to their first fish, or the splutter as they see the underwater seascape for the first time. These good times depend on having […]

Are we daunted by depletion?

December 21, 2020 It can be quite scary when you realise that we don’t know much about what is happening at sea or the state of our fish stocks. That’s because there’s not enough onboard cameras or observers to monitor at-sea activity. What’s more, 56 percent of targeted fish stocks in the Quota Management System (QMS) have never […]

Coromandel locals’ restoration plan for scallops

December 17, 2020 The decline in scallop numbers on the eastern side of Coromandel Peninsula has prompted Opito Bay locals to join forces and initiate a programme to restore stocks of the delicacy, starting with a survey to establish how many scallops actually remain in the Bay. The survey will be officially launched at a morning ceremony on […]

Opito Bay scallop depletion is not acceptable

December 9, 2020 Fresh scallops are one of life’s pleasures, and if you gather them yourself there is untold satisfaction in sharing that kaimoana with your family and friends. The low numbers of scallops in many traditional gathering areas means people holidaying around the Coromandel Peninsula may miss out on a meal of scallops this summer. Reports from […]