Media Releases

Public vote with their conscience – and their stomachs

September 27, 2023 Media release: Horizon polling results With an election looming, a new survey has found conservative ocean fishing policies will be a top priority for many people casting their votes in the October general election. The nationwide survey by Horizon Research, found 68% of Kiwis believe conservative ocean fishing policies should have top priority, or be […]

Alliance slams decision to continue trawling Hauraki Gulf

August 9, 2023 News today that the government will allow bottom trawling to continue in large areas of the Hauraki Gulf is being met by strong opposition from an alliance of groups campaigning to get the destructive fishing method out of the marine park. Released today, the decision is part of the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan, and while […]

Government fishing plan ignores public outrage

August 8, 2023 Government approval for a plan that supports the ongoing use of destructive fishing methods along New Zealand’s coastline has been labelled an outrage by recreational fishing and environmental interests. “There’s no plan to provide New Zealanders who are already struggling to feed whānau with affordable kaimoana. There’s no plan to support the struggling regional economies […]

Groups unite to celebrate scallop closure

March 20, 2023 Environmental, iwi and recreational fishing interests in the Hauraki Gulf are celebrating the Minister’s decision to close the Coromandel scallop fishery indefinitely.  The Coromandel scallop fishery stretches from Leigh, Rodney in the north to Maketū in the Bay of Plenty.  Ngāti Hei led the closure with a rāhui prohibiting the harvest of scallops on the […]

Community bewildered at kina dredging in the Tory Channel.

February 23, 2023 Kina, a shellfish known around the south as ‘spiky gold’, is still being dredged commercially in the Tory Channel. Recreational fishers and environmental interests are objecting to this archaic practice and are urging the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries to ban all dredging in the Tory Channel from April 2023.  “It’s as if no lessons […]

Communities and fishers welcome emergency scallop closure

December 14, 2022 Communities and fishers have welcomed Minister David Parker’s decision to use emergency powers to close the last two commercial scallop beds in New Zealand, in the Hauraki Gulf. The other scallop beds around Northland, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty, were closed earlier this year after a widespread community outcry at the disappearance of the […]

Amendment Bill retains environmental protections

October 25, 2022 The Fisheries Amendment Bill passed into law today is welcome news to Kiwi fishers and environmental groups who are committed to restored abundance of our fisheries. “Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker is to be thanked for passing legislation that enables monitoring cameras aboard commercial fishing vessels and makes them land their catch instead of […]

Last minute change to Fisheries Amendment Bill a win for the environment

September 29, 2022 The Government’s decision to drop controversial changes to fisheries legislation is welcome news to fishing and environmental groups concerned about threats to fish sustainability.  Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker has announced he will progress the part of the Fisheries Amendment Bill that enables monitoring cameras aboard commercial fishing vessels from 1 November.  But the […]

Fisheries Amendment Bill full of hidden fish hooks

September 21, 2022 Proposed changes to the laws governing fisheries will remove the current protections for fish sustainability and affect fishing rights for more than 600,000 fishers. Currently, the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries has a statutory duty to manage fish stocks to a level that provides for future generations’ needs, and to consider public input. The Minister […]

Kai Ika Project reaches 250,000 milestone

August 25, 2022 The Kai Ika Project, a kaupapa which shares previously unwanted fish heads and frames with appreciative Auckland communities, is marking a major milestone this week. Since starting in 2016, the Kai Ika Project has now recovered and donated more than 250,000 kgs of kai moana via Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae and other distribution outlets. None of […]