April 23, 2020
Restricting fishing during the Covid-19 lockdown may have short-term benefits for some fish stocks. The restrictions are unlikely to make a measurable difference to depleted stocks. Depleted fish stocks will only rebuild if meaningful catch reductions are applied and the productivity of the marine environment is restored, by banning destructive bulk harvesting fishing methods from […]
March 27, 2020
Locals in the northern Bay of Islands have succeeded in getting legal protection for mussels around the Black Rocks and out to the Ninepin. The Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash has approved a bylaw that prohibits anyone taking green-lipped, blue and black mussels from within the Te Puna Mataitai, from March 23rd, 2020. The bylaw […]
March 20, 2020
If diamonds are a girl’s best friend then crayfish must be a diver’s best friend. And no matter where you go around the country crayfish is a significant species for environmental, customary, recreational and commercial fishing interests. Recently our fisheries team submitted in response to proposals for the future management of crayfish in Northland, Gisborne, […]
March 19, 2020
Recent court decisions concerning waters around Motiti Island have surprised the recreational fishing public. The Court has essentially approved the ability for regional council’s to control fishing under the Resource Management Act (RMA). These decisions mean that there is potential for the closure of fishing areas in the Territorial Sea all around New Zealand. The […]
March 10, 2020
Poaching of fish is not new, it goes back centuries. In old England landlords refused to allow starving peasants to fish in the rivers and streams running through their properties. The peasants took their chances under the cover of darkness if they wanted to feed their family fish. Nowadays poaching operations are a lot more […]
February 28, 2020
In just two generations we have managed to pillage our crayfish stocks to such historic low levels that in many areas there are few, if any, left for locals to enjoy. Taking more than 80 per cent of the original crayfish stock size then sustaining it at that low level is inviting disaster, by altering […]
February 26, 2020
A huge majority of New Zealanders think fishing industry donations to Members of Parliament at the last election have the potential to “strongly influence” decisions the MPs make according to a poll conducted by Horizon Research. The poll, which asked more than 1,000 people how much they felt donations by companies with large fishing investments […]
February 25, 2020
UPDATE 2: Rules applying to recreational catch of rock lobster in CRA2 have changed as of 1 July 2020. We await information from Fisheries New Zealand and will advise details when these are available. UPDATE: MPI has advised LegaSea that the decision to change the crayfish bag limits in CRA2 not yet been ratified by […]
February 17, 2020
Snapper, kahawai and blue cod are the most popular saltwater finfish caught and kept by recreational fishers in New Zealand. As you would expect, snapper is the most common fish taken, representing nearly half of the national finfish landings. We now have two reliable surveys of recreational harvest using the same methods so the results […]
February 15, 2020
When times are tough it’s great to have good friends around and Lily Alexander is one of those. For her 10th birthday, in late 2019, she decided to do something remarkable. Lily decided to forgo birthday presents. Instead of presents she asked all her friends to bring money so she could donate it to LegaSea. […]
