Latest updates


Newsletter #107 – It’s National Kahawai Day

May 28, 2021 LegaSea is celebrating May 28th as National Kahawai Day, in recognition of the community coming together in the early 2000s to save ‘the people’s fish’.  The 4-year Kahawai Legal Challenge was the first time recreational fishers had taken the Minister of Fisheries to court since the Quota Management System was introduced 20 years prior. It […]

A brief history of the Kahawai Legal Challenge

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 […]

Opito Bay dive survey summary report. May 2021

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 […]

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.