News

This report estimates the total recreational catch of southern bluefin tuna in New Zealand for the 2022-23 fishing year. Overall, the total number of southern bluefin tuna caught in the recreational fishery was estimated to be about 1500, which is less than previous years, however, the average weight was lower….

Six pop-off satellite tags were deployed by the New Plymouth Sportfishing and Underwater Club in February and March 2023. At last, we have detailed tracks from west coast tagged striped marlin, thanks to ongoing support from the IGFA Great Marlin Race programme and the NZMarine Research Foundation.  Four of the…

This guide was created to assist recreational fishers and fishing clubs in identifying species of large tuna using external features of freshly caught fish. There is a recreational bag limit of one southern bluefin tuna per person per day and the need for fast identification and live release is increasing. …

This guide was created to assist recreational fishers and fishing clubs in identifying species of tuna that are less than 30 kg using external features of freshly caught fish. The range of juvenile tunas has been increasing and some recreational fishers may catch these for the first time. There is…

The results of the New Zealand Marine Research Foundation’s striped marlin satellite tagging research program over four seasons from 2003 to 2007 has proven to be a highly successful collaborative research effort led by Blue Water Marine Research. Twenty one marlin were tagged at various coastal locations around New Zealand…

Read the full story about Australian fly fisherman Matthew Daniel who headed to New Zealand in early March 2017 for one purpose; to sample the world class flats fly fishing for Yellowtail Kingfish aka Seriola lalandi lalandi. New Zealand is likely the only place on Earth where at certain times…