July 29, 2024
Originally published in Mahurangi Matters, July 2024. Kiwis spend a lot of time along our coastlines, whether it’s gathering shellfish to share with family and friends, casting a line out, or enjoying the easy-going beach lifestyle. You may have also noticed that our marine environment isn’t what it used to be. Fish don’t come inshore ... Read more.
July 17, 2024
Look out. Speak up! Fisheries New Zealand has released a raft of reviews for our fish stocks and there’s only a limited time for you to have your say. The 19 reviews include changes to commercial and recreational catch limits for many of our favourite kai moana. Our expert fisheries management team is getting stuck ... Read more.
June 27, 2024
LegaSea is stunned that Fisheries New Zealand is blaming the climate for snapper having “milky white flesh syndrome”. Their latest report skips over last year’s lab results that showed snapper were in a “state of chronic malnutrition”. That testing found that tissue breakdown in snapper was attributed to a “prolonged period of starvation”. So, why ... Read more.
June 17, 2024
What would be your ideal restaurant? For us, it would be a place that serves delicious and innovative kaimoana dishes sourced directly from small, artisanal boats and fishing companies that use non-destructive fishing techniques to harvest their fish. As diners, we’d like to know exactly where the seafood has come from, the name of the ... Read more.
May 30, 2024
Originally published in The Adventurer, May 2024. The soothing sounds of squawking seagulls and crashing waves are being drowned out by the roar of bottom trawlers along the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty coastline. This is where trawlers have sadly become a common sight to see from the comfort of your own beach. They often ... Read more.
May 28, 2024
Kahawai – “strong in the water”. Today marks the 15th anniversary of the day the Supreme Court ruled on the Kahawai Legal Challenge. On May 28th 2009 the Supreme Court found that while the Minister has wide discretion when making fisheries management decisions, the allowances that must be set aside for Māori customary and recreational ... Read more.
May 27, 2024
You would consider yourself lucky if you were found alive 24 hours after falling overboard from a boat. In January, a man was fishing solo out behind the Alderman Islands. Somehow he fell overboard and in little over 24 hours drifted in the currents to Mayor Island, over 55 km away from the Aldermans. Incredibly ... Read more.
May 2, 2024
Tackling kina barrens does not necessarily mean we should be harvesting more kina. It is a sign of ecosystem imbalance that requires an integrated management approach. Unless the Ministry for Primary Industries address the root cause of kina overabundance we will be stuck in a never-ending cycle. We can not eat our way out of ... Read more.
April 27, 2024
It’s been two years since the last remaining scallop beds in the Hauraki Gulf were placed under emergency closure. While it may feel like a lifetime since we’ve had fresh, local scallops on our dinner plates, it still may not be enough time for our scallops to regenerate. So anyone anticipating a meal of plump ... Read more.
April 17, 2024
Cameras onboard commercial fishing vessels have exposed the environmental cost of destructive, indiscriminate fishing techniques. Since the installation of cameras on 127 vessels, the volume of reported fish discarded has increased by 46 percent and interactions with protected species, including seabirds and dolphins, is more than double what was previously reported.
