Latest updates


Don’t get caught out on April Fool’s Day – UPDATED

February 25, 2020 UPDATE 2: Rules applying to recreational catch of rock lobster in CRA2 have changed as of 1 July 2020. We await information from Fisheries New Zealand and will advise details when these are available. UPDATE: MPI has advised LegaSea that the decision to change the crayfish bag limits in CRA2 not yet been ratified by […]

How much do we catch?

February 17, 2020 Snapper, kahawai and blue cod are the most popular saltwater finfish caught and kept by recreational fishers in New Zealand. As you would expect, snapper is the most common fish taken, representing nearly half of the national finfish landings. We now have two reliable surveys of recreational harvest using the same methods so the results […]

Bitter sweet times for fishers

February 15, 2020 When times are tough it’s great to have good friends around and Lily Alexander is one of those. For her 10th birthday, in late 2019, she decided to do something remarkable. Lily decided to forgo birthday presents. Instead of presents she asked all her friends to bring money so she could donate it to LegaSea. […]

Potential fishing closures in Northland

February 10, 2020 After years of bearing witness to declining fish stocks and inshore trawling a Maori Trust in the Bay of Plenty has taken the initiative to protect indigenous biodiversity. As a result of a complex legal process the Court of Appeal recently ruled that Regional Councils are obliged to actively protect indigenous biodiversity in the marine […]

Proactive management in the Bay of Islands

February 4, 2020 Local Kaitiaki [guardians] held a hui in December to discuss putting a ban on taking mussels from the northern area in the Bay of Islands, until they regrow. Consultation with the local community was largely supportive and now we await a Ministerial decision. LegaSea attended the December hui and expressed support for this initiative as […]

Cameras – what is there to hide?

February 1, 2020 In 2013 the government committed to 100% camera or observer coverage of all trawl vessels on the northeast coast, by October 2015. In June 2019 the present government promised us that 28 at-risk vessels on the west coast of the North Island would have cameras and monitoring by November. The roll-out to the remaining commercial […]

Innovation is the future for commercial fishing

January 26, 2020 LegaSea is celebrating the courage of Karl and Sarah Warr from Hawke’s Bay who have installed cameras on their trawler to livestream their fishing activity 24/7. This Napier couple wants the public to see for themselves how their fish is caught. They are hopeful that consumers will start asking their suppliers if the food they […]

The year that was 2019

January 16, 2020 From The Kai Ika project to Fishcare to the events we attended and the submissions we made… it was definitely a big year. A huge thank you to you, our supporters, to enable us to get closer to our goal of a healthy marine environment and having more fish in the sea. Watch the 2019 […]

LegaSea’s Youngest Legend

December 22, 2019 A few months ago for her 10th birthday, Lily Alexander decided to do something remarkable. She decided to forgo birthday presents. Instead of presents, she asked all her friends to bring money which she promptly donated to LegaSea.  Being a passionate fisher, Lily loves being out on the water with her family and felt […]

Kai Ika project epitomises the joy of giving

December 19, 2019 Thanks to a raft of support from many organisations and funders the Kai Ika project is ramping up to a new level. The Kai Ika project is facilitated by LegaSea, the Outboard Boating Club of Auckland (OBC) and Papatuanuku Kokiri Marae. Its success can be attributed to the commitment of all the volunteers involved in […]