Kia ora Friend,
As we wrap up the year and head into a well-earned break, the LegaSea team want to say thanks for standing with us. It's been a massive twelve months – fisheries reform fights, marlin proposals, protests, submissions, and a whole lot of noise made in defence of our oceans.
Recently, we shared a simple message – I Fish. I Care. I Vote - in response to claims that public concern about fisheries is somehow "catastrophising". More than 22,000 New Zealanders took the time to speak up and oppose proposals seeking to commercialise marlin and 19 reef fish species. Earlier in the year more than 25,000 people opposed ill-conceived changes to the Fisheries Act.
It's clear that you stand alongside lots of Kiwis who care.
None of this happens without people like you showing up, speaking up, and backing the cause. Over summer, take the time to switch off, get out on the water if you can, and enjoy what we're all working to protect. Fish within the rules, look after each other, and come home safe.
We'll be back next year rested and ready to rumble. |
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The FishCare Photo Comp is back! |
Each summer, we invite fishers and ocean lovers to share their best photos. The competition is open from December to the end of February. By entering, you help build a powerful image library that supports LegaSea's work all year round, and you'll be in the running for great prizes across six categories.
The competition sits within our FishCare programme and reflects what we value out on the water, from great fishing and ocean moments to the realities affecting our marine environment. Most categories celebrate the best of fishing and ocean life, while one asks for an honest look at what's not working, including pollution and pressure on fish stocks.
Categories and Prizes: -
Landscape & Coastal Images (sponsored by Auckland Hydro Seeding): Win a portable JBL PartyBox Encore Essential speaker worth over $300.
- Underwater Shots (sponsored by NZUA): Sealife SportDiver S Housing worth over $500.
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Marine Life in Their Natural Habitat (sponsored by Marine Deals): Shimano Vanford 2500 HG Lunamis S86ML Softbait Spin Combo worth over $1000!
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Collecting & Catching Kaimoana (sponsored by Okuma): Okuma Ceymar HD Baitfeeder reel & Okuma Tournament Concept X 702 rod worth $379!
- Preparing, Cooking & Eating Kaimoana (sponsored by Cobb Grills): A COBB Black Gas grill worth $419!
- Things That Aren't Right in Our Oceans (sponsored by LegaSea): Prize pack worth over $300!
Entries are open now and close on 28 February. If you're heading out this summer, take your camera or phone, capture what you see, and enter via our website. |
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Straightening out the play |
You may have seen comments from Shane Jones suggesting that recreational fishers, and LegaSea in particular, were involved in creating the marine restrictions now being imposed on the Hauraki Gulf. We need to be clear – that claim is wrong.
LegaSea's parent organisation the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council (NZSFC) alongside iwi, environmental groups, recreational fishers and industry, was involved in developing Sea Change. That process produced a single, science-backed plan designed to be implemented as a whole. Its strength was that everyone was at the table and everyone accepted the trade-offs. No cherry-picking. No back-room rewrites.
The High Protection Areas now in place are not Sea Change. They were developed later, cherry picked from the wider plan, and imposed without the balance, consent, or accountability that Sea Change demanded. The NZSFC has opposed this approach from the very beginning.
NZSFC President (and LegaSea legend) Scott Macindoe sets the record straight in a short video. He explains the difference between Sea Change and what we face now. We encourage you to watch it. It lays out, calmly and plainly, why these High Protection Areas are not the solution the Hauraki Gulf needs. And why rewriting history helps no one except those avoiding real reform.
If we genuinely want a healthier Gulf, we need honesty about and the courage to back meaningful solutions. That requires an integrated approach of marine protection and fisheries management to restore fish abundance and biodiversity. Anything less is just a sham. Watch the video here. |
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BREAKING NEWS: CRA 1 decision announced |
News out today. From 1 April 2026, no spiny red crayfish can be taken from waters around Pārengarenga Harbour, Far North, down to Cape Rodney, north of Kawau Island.
From April 2026, the recreational daily bag limit for spiny reds will also reduce from 3 to 2 per person.
Spiny red crayfish numbers on the northeast coast have collapsed. In our most recent submissions we have warned the Minister and officials that more needed to be done to restore crayfish numbers. This would help address kina barrens, vast areas where kina are feasting on kelp and denuding rocky reefs of any meaningful life.
We'll have more detail in next year's newsletter. Meantime, if you're out diving on the northeast coast please be conservative in what you take. We want our kids to enjoy a healthy crayfish fishery in the future. |
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Happy holidays from the Kai Ika team |
Photo by Alex Wallace
It's been another big year for The Kai Ika Project. With distributions growing across Auckland, Wellington and Hawkes Bay. We've recovered more fish heads, frames and wings than ever before, making sure the whole fish is used and more kaimoana ends up where it belongs, on the tables of Kiwi whānau. This year alone, more than 120,000 kgs of fish heads, frames and wings were recovered across these regions.
That's the point of this project: respecting the fish and getting good food to people who need it.
None of this could've happened without our fish donors. Their generosity keeps the supply moving and the doors open, and we want to properly acknowledge the businesses that backed this work over the past year. Hilton Foods, Service Foods and Scott Seafood in Auckland; Saltwater Seafood, and The Fisherman's Shop in Hawke's Bay; and Wellington Seamarket and Moana NZ in Wellington have all played a huge part in what we've been able to deliver.
We also passed two major milestones, reaching 500,000 kgs and then 600,000 kgs of kaimoana recovered and redistributed since the Kai Ika Project began in 2016.
Our collective success means more fish fully utilised, more families accessing healthy food, and less waste heading for the bin. Thanks for sticking with us and helping keep this mahi moving.
Ngā mihi nui, The Kai Ika Team |
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In the News... Looking after what we love
As we head into the summer holidays, many of us are keen to get out on the water and enjoy what our ocean has to offer. Chucking a line out with mates or family is the Kiwi way to slow down and unwind. This summer, by changing a few habits, we can all minimise our impact and contribute towards restoring our coastal fisheries. After all, we want to be able to enjoy this resource for many more years to come.
LegaSea, December 2025 |
The marine species that have 'totally disappeared' from Marlborough Sounds
Three species have disappeared entirely from the Marlborough Sounds, a new report has revealed, in a major blow to biodiversity in the region. Of the four ecologically significant species monitored at 16 sites in Queen Charlotte Sound/Tōtaranui, only one remained.
Kira Carrington, RNZ, December 2025 |
Checklist: Pre-dive safety
Every year, divers are lost in New Zealand waters in preventable circumstances. Diving can - and should - be a safe, enjoyable experience; a recent experience as told to DAN World gives good insight into how some basic pre-dive checks, and having a dive buddy with you, can keep you safe in the water. Dive Pacific, December 2025 |
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LegaSea is proudly supported by its Gold and Platinum partners: |
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