Latest updates


LegaSea newsletter #106 – Let your voice be heard

May 13, 2021 The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show starts today and LegaSea will be there for the full 4 days. We are looking forward to talking with you face to face. There is certainly a lot to talk about, from the launch of Rescue Fish, the fight against bottom trawling and dredging, and where the heck all […]

Science shows Coromandel scallop beds are in decline

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 […]

LegaSea newsletter #105 – See you at the show

May 5, 2021 As we head into May, fishers and boaties among us are only thinking about one thing – The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show. With last year’s event being cancelled for Covid, we are more than looking forward to this year’s event.  This is our chance to talk to you face to face, and there is […]

Appetite to ban trawling and dredging

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 […]

A higher target for more fish – B50

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 […]

LegaSea newsletter #104 – Celebrating communities working to protect the environment

April 9, 2021 As international awareness for the plight of our ocean grows, local communities are taking action. We’ve seen a raft of communities joining forces and placing rāhui (temporary closures) around the coastline. Supporting these efforts has meant a busy start to the year for the LegaSea crew. We have also seen some topical and timely documentaries […]

Reel Questions with Tom Hishon

April 9, 2021 Tom Hishon is the Executive Chef and co-founder of kingi, a sustainable seafood restaurant in downtown Auckland that focuses on supporting independent fishers from around New Zealand.

It’s time to ditch the dredge

March 26, 2021 Whether there is a seafloor hardened by rock structures, a seafloor soft and sandy, or a seafloor teeming with coral life, a single pass of a scallop dredge can reduce the total number of creatures on the seafloor by around 60 percent. A countless number of sea creatures use the seafloor as their home or […]

Self-regulating commercial fishing plan fails at first hurdle

March 25, 2021 Years of poor fisheries management by successive governments under the Quota Management System (QMS) has resulted in tarakihi populations along the east coast of both islands falling to just 15% of their original population size. In 2019, the previous Minister of Fisheries responded to this crisis with a token 10 percent cut in commercial catch […]

Reel Questions with Fleur Sullivan

March 24, 2021 Fleur Sullivan is the owner of award-winning restaurant Fleur’s Place in Moeraki, a restaurant so renowned in the foodie scene, famous chef’s such as Rick Stein have come all the way to this little Southern abode to eat the seafood she has to offer. Her menu revolves around whatever is caught by her fishermen that day, providing a unique experience where her fish comes straight from water to plate. Quota owner, hunter-gatherer, food visionary - Fleur is true treasure.