Articles

Potential fishing closures in Northland

February 10, 2020 After years of bearing witness to declining fish stocks and inshore trawling a Maori Trust in the Bay of Plenty has taken the initiative to protect indigenous biodiversity. As a result of a complex legal process the Court of Appeal recently ruled that Regional Councils are obliged to actively protect indigenous biodiversity in the marine […]

Proactive management in the Bay of Islands

February 4, 2020 Local Kaitiaki [guardians] held a hui in December to discuss putting a ban on taking mussels from the northern area in the Bay of Islands, until they regrow. Consultation with the local community was largely supportive and now we await a Ministerial decision. LegaSea attended the December hui and expressed support for this initiative as […]

Cameras – what is there to hide?

February 1, 2020 In 2013 the government committed to 100% camera or observer coverage of all trawl vessels on the northeast coast, by October 2015. In June 2019 the present government promised us that 28 at-risk vessels on the west coast of the North Island would have cameras and monitoring by November. The roll-out to the remaining commercial […]

Innovation is the future for commercial fishing

January 26, 2020 LegaSea is celebrating the courage of Karl and Sarah Warr from Hawke’s Bay who have installed cameras on their trawler to livestream their fishing activity 24/7. This Napier couple wants the public to see for themselves how their fish is caught. They are hopeful that consumers will start asking their suppliers if the food they […]

Kai Ika project epitomises the joy of giving

December 19, 2019 Thanks to a raft of support from many organisations and funders the Kai Ika project is ramping up to a new level. The Kai Ika project is facilitated by LegaSea, the Outboard Boating Club of Auckland (OBC) and Papatuanuku Kokiri Marae. Its success can be attributed to the commitment of all the volunteers involved in […]

NIWA’s summer snapper hunt

December 19, 2019 Reports that snapper have been caught in waters around Fiordland and Dunedin have raised a few eyebrows, and the prospect that warming waters may be affecting fish distribution. We don’t know how environmental changes will affect spawning success or how many juveniles will eventually make it to adulthood in these changing environments. In an effort […]

Tis the season to be sharing

December 19, 2019 Fishing tends to bring out the best in us so whether you are at home or away this summer there is an easy way to share your unwanted fish parts with someone who would relish the gift. There are thousands of people who have registered online to receive fish heads, frames or even the wings, […]

Dead fish raise more questions

December 19, 2019 Questions remain around the mass of dead fish floating around the Hauraki Gulf and landing on the beaches of Kawau Island over the past week. Ministry for Primary Industries advise they received a report of the “accidental loss” of 1,000 kilos of mackerel from a commercial vessel fishing outside Kawau Island. Another report suggests the […]

Getting a grip on our catch

December 18, 2019 At this time of year we often hear wailing about recreational fishers taking too many fish and how that threatens overall sustainability. The good news is twofold. One, we still have good access to fisheries that thousands of Kiwis enjoy over summer. Secondly, we have new national survey results that show that recreational harvest is […]

LegaSea is not anti-commercial fishing

December 9, 2019 Let’s get real, LegaSea is not anti-commercial fishing. We want small-scale, low impact commercial fishing to be successful. LegaSea is against the Quota Management System and an inadequate Fisheries Act that fails to protect our fish stocks for future generations. Far from being innovative, over the past 30 years the QMS has been a backward […]