Articles

Industrial fishing depletes the Bay of Empty

February 28, 2019 The governance of our marine fisheries is under increasing scrutiny because maintaining highly productive ecosystems has given way to transactional advocacy targeting every possible fish that can be justified. Local depletion and inter-tidal reefs stripped bare sees coastal communities and Kaitiaki [guardians] crying out for effective restraints. Clearly the current system is not working and […]

Investing in our kids and country

February 27, 2019 The world of fisheries management, research and advocacy has become increasingly complex. So, it’s encouraging for LegaSea and our parent body the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council that there is a growing number of organisations willing to step up and help resource the necessary work. In the past year LegaSea has worked on five new […]

Hawke’s Bay stalwarts stepping aside

February 26, 2019 Toby and Venita Simcox have been at the forefront of LegaSea Hawke’s Bay since its inception in 2014. They are your typical volunteers, willing to take on any task that needed doing just to get the job done and make it better for everyone else. They remain passionate about the cause, but after five year’s […]

Fish dumping threatens our future

February 26, 2019 Kiwis are naturally offended by wastage and fish dumping is at the top of the pile. It is particularly offensive when commercial fishers are involved while their industry leaders continue to bombard us with messages of guardianship. Dumping is illegal and a blatant waste of our collective, precious marine resources. We must do better if […]

Summary of MPI Fisheries Change proposals

February 22, 2019 Senseless waste and dumping of commercial catch has been in the spotlight since 2013. Electronic monitoring of at-sea activity is underway but the rollout of onboard cameras to monitor fishing and discards has been stymied by fishing industry opposition. The latest proposals in MPI’s Fisheries Change Programme seeks to “simplify” the rules applying to commercial […]

When it comes to innovation talk is cheap

February 15, 2019 Talk is cheap. On the one hand we have fisheries managers and companies espousing value creation yet all we can see is the Quota Management System being used to benefit the supply chain while paralysing fisheries management and innovation. After 30 years of this QMS experiment we now realise quota control ought to have remained […]

Fake news is fiction

January 25, 2019 Fake news is fiction no matter how it is spun in print, online or via flash television adverts telling us how great the commercial fishing industry is at restraining themselves. At the same time, they are resisting cameras on boats because of privacy issues – yeah right. In contrast, when it comes to knowing what […]

Increasing calls to ban purse seining

January 20, 2019 There are growing calls to ban purse seining in our coastal waters. There have been numerous attempts to keep the seiners away from areas important to recreational fishers, to reduce conflict and protect forage species for seabirds and predatory fish. The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has called on Fisheries New Zealand to better manage […]

Crayfish – the status quo is unacceptable

December 24, 2018 As we lurch our way into the silly season it is only natural that our thoughts turn to fishing and diving for the delicacies we have dreamt about all year. Crayfish is on the top of many people’s wish list, to say thanks to someone special, for sharing with the whanau or as a holiday […]

One little squeeze is all it takes

December 23, 2018 What are we talking about?  The amount of pressure or time it takes to crush the barb on your hook with a pair of pliers. In FishCare – The school of best practice LegaSea describes how one little squeeze with the pliers can have a profound effect on the success of your catch and release […]