Have your say on the Fisheries Amendment Bill 2026 

Despite widespread public outrage, the coalition government is proceeding with the most anti-social changes to fisheries legislation in 30 years. This will impact generations to come. 

The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones has presented the Fisheries Amendment Bill to Parliament and it’s now one step closer to becoming legislation. The Bill is rotten, and Kiwis want it scrapped.

If you care about the future of our fisheries, speak up and oppose the Bill before 29 April 2026.

For more information on the Bill, click here.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

The Fisheries Amendment Bill is fundamentally flawed and does not deliver a better future for our fisheries. Our marine environment. Or us. Specifically:

  1. The Bill prioritises exports and private interests. Feeding Kiwis must come first. 
  2. Lack of transparency. No public access to camera footage. Decision making goes behind closed doors while public input is limited.  
  3. The Bill destroys environmental safeguards so the Minister can legalise dumping of unwanted fish and the catch of undersized fish, while increasing commercial catch limits. This does nothing to reduce trawling along our coastline.

Disclaimers: This process is more complicated than it needs to be because the Select Committee will not allow LegaSea to collate all submissions made through this form. Please follow the steps below as it’s important to make your voice heard. LegaSea has developed this template to help guide your submission. Alternatively, you can bypass this process and submit directly via the parliamentary submission web page.

Build your submission for the Select Committee here

Public submissions are open until 29 April. The deadline for submissions has been extended to Wednesday 6 May.

This is your last opportunity to Kill the Bill before it becomes law.