October 21, 2021
It’s a pass mark for the Minister’s fisheries management decisions for the start of the October fishing year and a hurry-up for Fisheries New Zealand to gather vital data over the next 12 months. That pass is only valid if action is taken to do further work. Fisheries New Zealand need to be monitoring the […]
October 15, 2021
It’s great to be alongside Ngāti Hei celebrating the Minister’s recent approval for a 2-year rāhui banning all scallop harvesting around the eastern Coromandel until September 2023. On the flip side, it is ominous for the sustainability of other scallop beds that remain open around the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty. People around Omaha, […]
September 24, 2021
In 2002 researchers surveying the Hauraki Gulf estimated only 24 tonnes of gurnard remained in Gulf waters. Since then there has been a succession of Hauraki Gulf Forum reports documenting continual decline of fish stocks and marine biodiversity. A crisis is looming yet there is no effective response from local or national government. The Hauraki […]
September 16, 2021
More than 10,000 people put their name to supporting our recent submissions to the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries calling for more conservative management of our precious marine environment. Many of these people are frustrated that the Minister still permits environmentally destructive acts such as dragging weighted chains and box dredges across seafloor habitats. Bottom […]
September 8, 2021
Groups that worked to save Coromandel scallop beds are delighted with David Parker’s decision to endorse the regional rāhui on scallops. But, at the same time, are concerned commercial fishers will now desecrate the already threatened scallop beds off Omaha, Great Barrier and Little Barrier. Ngāti Hei kaitiaki, Joe Davis welcomed the decision to ban […]
August 26, 2021
Bottom trawling, the act of dragging chains across the seabed, has an adverse effect on the marine environment. In our most recent submissions responding to government fisheries proposals we have emphasised the need for the Minister to take those adverse effects into account by setting lower catch limits for fish species taken mainly by trawling. […]
August 24, 2021
Support for our collective efforts to get rid of scallop dredging from New Zealand’s inshore waters is growing. It’s strange then that the government has come out with a plan to ban all recreational scallop dredging from the Hauraki Gulf yet allow commercial fishers to continue using the Victorian Box Dredge to gather scallops. This […]
August 12, 2021
Commercial fishers who flagrantly dredged scallop beds while flying a pirate flag have undone the good work of communities who have tried to save the beds by observing a rahui. In December 2020, a voluntary rāhui was laid on the eastern Coromandel coastline to protect dwindling numbers of scallops from dredging and overharvest. In February […]
August 10, 2021
LegaSea is looking forward to talking about local issues with the Coromandel community at the upcoming Tairua Boat Show in mid-August. There is so much to discuss including Opito Bay scallops, the Ngāti Hei rāhui across the eastern coastline, and the ongoing struggle to ban trawling and dredging in the Hauraki Gulf. It was pleasing […]
July 23, 2021
Snapper stocks out west of the North Island have rebuilt to an abundance level beyond most people’s living memory. Fisheries New Zealand (FNZ) has proposed catch increases for commercial fishers, an increase to the overall allowances for recreational and Māori customary fishing interests, and no changes to recreational bag or size limits. Submissions are due […]
