Media Releases

What more proof is needed before government acts?

May 24, 2018 We’ve seen the Heron Report on failures in our fishing industry, the Achilles and Hippocamp reports paint a devastating picture of the Ministry of Primary Industries working hand in glove with industry to avoid accountability, more recently we’ve seen the decimation of our crayfish stocks and now we’re told MPI and industry have been fudging […]

EDS’s Voices from the Sea is a wake-up call for industry

May 1, 2018 The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has written a compelling tale of the destruction being wrought on our seas and fisheries and this must be a call to arms for the government. Voices from the Sea: Managing New Zealand’s Fisheries documents the devastation caused by commercial fishing to our marine bird life and mammals. The recreational […]

Recreational fishers welcome Minister’s actions on CRA2

March 27, 2018 LegaSea and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council welcome the decision by the Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash to reduce the allowable catch for crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty, known as the CRA 2 region. The Minister has set the new limits for commercial fishing at 80 tonnes per year, set […]

Cameras on boats – a vital step forward

February 16, 2018 Recreational fishing group LegaSea is calling on Minister of Fisheries Stuart Nash to stand firm against industry pressure to dump the introduction of cameras and electronic monitoring on commercial fishing boats. LegaSea is challenging industry claims that it is engaging in best practice fishing endeavours, and that cameras and other forms of monitoring are not […]

Fisheries review needs to be prioritised

February 5, 2018 Crayfish stocks are in crisis and recreational fishers are calling for an independent review of the fisheries management system. Currently, crayfish in the CRA 2 region (which extends from Pakiri through the Hauraki Gulf to the East Cape) are at an all-time low. The latest official assessment shows that the crayfish population has been in […]

New portfolio goes a long way towards fixing fisheries management

October 25, 2017 LegaSea welcomes the creation of a new separate portfolio for Fisheries and wishes the new Minister of Fisheries, Stuart Nash, good luck as he tackles what has become a highly contentious portfolio. Fisheries has been lumped in with forestry and farming under the Ministry for Primary Industries banner since 2012 but it has never sat […]

Political parties united in call for inquiry into fisheries debacle

September 11, 2017 Labour and the Green Party have both come out in support of an inquiry into the management of New Zealand’s fisheries, leaving National as the only party which has declared itself unwilling to look into the issue in the lead up to the election. ACT, TOP and Mana have not responded to requests for a […]

Calls for Commission of Inquiry into fisheries mismanagement grow

September 4, 2017 Four political parties have joined LegaSea and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council’s call for an inquiry into the state of New Zealand’s fisheries management practices. New Zealand First, the Māori Party, United Future and the New Zealand Outdoors Party have all agreed New Zealand’s fisheries management needs an overhaul and cannot continue the way […]

NZ Sport Fishing Council releases recreational fishing Manifesto

August 8, 2017 A new approach to managing New Zealand’s fisheries is needed The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has released its Manifesto and calls on New Zealand’s political parties to consider a new approach to setting policy. The Council has consulted with its members over what they want to see in terms of stewardship of New Zealand’s […]

The Crayfish Crisis

July 11, 2017 Despite overwhelming evidence that the CRA2 fishery off Auckland’s east coast and Bay of Plenty is in critical condition the Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy says there’s no problem, and he has no intention of doing anything about the declining number of crayfish until at least April 2018. Recreational fishers wrote to the Minister in […]