FAQs
All FAQs |
Customary Fisheries | Fisheries Management | maximum sustainable yield | QMS | Economics | Fishing | Rescue Fish | Environment | Fishing methods | Recreational Fishing | Fishcare | customary | Kahawai | Reform scam | Baitfish | Scallops | Crayfish | WRC decision | Marlin | Reef fish | Deemed value penalties | Judicial Review | Kill the Bill | Tarakihi | Release mortality | Election | Politics
August 27, 2026
No. Improved research into recreational catch is welcome, and the most recent study is a good example of it. However, the figures don’t expose a hidden gap: release mortality is built into how catch limits are set. The current 450 tonne allowance for mortality in the northern snapper fishery adequately covers the estimated 250 tonnes ... Read more.
August 27, 2026
Most released snapper survive, however a few simple changes can support a greater survival rate: Fish shallow where you can. A 2026 Fisheries NZ study found survival is highest for fish caught in less than 15m deep. Fish brought up from deeper water are more prone to barotrauma – swim bladder damage that limits them ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
The environment must come first. Under the Fisheries Act 1996, the Minister must first ensure the stock and the wider marine environment are sustained, before deciding how much can be caught – and where a fishery has fallen too low, the law requires a genuine plan to rebuild it. On that basis, there needs to ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Tarakihi is mostly targeted by bottom trawling. Around two-thirds of commercially caught tarakihi is taken on fishing trips where tarakihi is the target species, with the rest coming up alongside other species in mixed trawl fisheries. Most of the catch is a choice about where and how to fish, not something unavoidable which means catch ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Very little. Tarakihi is one of New Zealand’s staple table fish. Around 95% of tarakihi caught is sold and eaten right here in Aotearoa, not shipped overseas. That’s why the state of the stock matters so much to ordinary Kiwis, this isn’t a distant export commodity, it’s a fish New Zealanders catch or buy to ... Read more.
July 15, 2026
Fisheries New Zealand now assesses and manages tarakihi as two stocks, eastern and western. The science has indicated the two coasts have different nursery grounds, spawning areas, age patterns, and catch trends, and both age-composition and genetic studies point to fish being largely distinct. On the east coast, juvenile fish grow up mainly around Canterbury ... Read more.
April 15, 2026
Over time, we can expect fewer fish in the water and a degraded marine environment, impacting generations to come.
April 15, 2026
Over time, 98 species or species groups have been added to the QMS. For example, tarakihi was added to the QMS in 1986, kahawai in 2004. These are divided into 642 separate fish stocks i.e For snapper, there are six different snapper stocks across the country – SNA 1 (Northland, Hauraki Gulf, Bay of Plenty), ... Read more.
April 15, 2026
Removing environmental considerations when setting catch limits benefits the short-term profits for quota shareholders, the people and entities who make money from leasing or owning quota. The costs, however, will be borne by the marine environment, small-scale commercial fishers, the public and future generations.
April 15, 2026
Because fish live in a marine ecosystem. The Minister must consider the impacts of fishing on the marine environment to ensure that commercial fishing doesn’t undermine the health of fish populations or the ecosystems they depend on. A healthy marine environment supports abundant fisheries and our ability to catch fish for now and future generations.
