July 15, 2021
Local Hauraki Gulf communities are left feeling unheard after the Government has decided to take a cherry-picking approach in protecting and enhancing the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park. We are disappointed by the recent changes proposed in the Government (Revitalising the Gulf) response to the Sea Change plan which includes decisions which will only protect pockets […]
July 7, 2021
Trawling and its effects on fish, people and future livelihoods has been a subject of debate for more than a century. A succession of Ministers have heard submissions, held meetings, drawn lines on maps and even established a commission of inquiry in 1918, yet we still have bottom trawling in many productive nursery grounds. Even […]
June 19, 2021
The High Court has ruled that in 2019 Stuart Nash, the then Minister of Fisheries, did not act legally when deciding on the management settings for tarakihi on the whole east coast. Tarakihi and the environment in which they live have been decimated by years of trawling, with the stock collapsing to just 16% of […]
June 19, 2021
A high court decision that protects tarakihi sets a precedent for protecting other fish populations and is a milestone in fisheries management, says marine conservation group LegaSea. “It’s a hugely important judgement that has run under the radar”, said LegaSea spokesperson Sam Woolford. “Firstly, the court affirmed that decisions made by the previous Minister of […]
June 1, 2021
To celebrate National Kahawai Day 2021, we ran a competition asking you to share your kahawai-related stories. Here are some beautiful stories below. Respect for kahawai – Andrew Penny “I will admit that it took some time to hold kahawai in the high regard that I do now. Growing up fishing in the Manukau, […]
May 27, 2021
“But to see the kahawai at its best we have to go to New Zealand. There, huge shoals of these fish range the coast and work away up the inlets and rivers. One of these big bodies of fish on the move is a stirring sight.” – Wal Hardy, The Saltwater Angler (1966). Kahawai is […]
May 20, 2021
A healthy scallop population has provided for the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of mana whenua for centuries and coastal Coromandel communities for decades. There is growing concern by Ngāti Hei and local interests about the depletion of scallops in Opito Bay at the end of the Kūaotunu Peninsula on the eastern side of the […]
May 12, 2021
A new report shows some scallop beds off the Coromandel coast are unlikely to recover from their current depleted state, and locals are concerned that ongoing dredging will threaten the future of the delicacy. The report summarises a dive survey commissioned by the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council in 2020. In some areas of Opito […]
April 27, 2021
Trawling in the Hauraki Gulf has been a contentious issue for more than a century so the Hauraki Gulf Forum’s recent policy decision to remove all industrial bottom trawling and scallop dredging from the entire Marine Park is welcome news. The resolution is being celebrated by communities from north Auckland to Waihi, at the southern […]
April 26, 2021
New Zealand’s so-called world leading quota management system is an abject failure. That is the inconvenient truth. After 35 years we still have fisheries that are not abundant enough to meet people’s needs. Rebuilding depleted fish stocks to levels that are both sustainable for the ocean and the economy would mean great things for our […]
