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 […]
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 […]
