Balancing the sustainability of our fisheries stocks and the impacts of fishing on the environment with the economic opportunities they offer is an ongoing challenge.
Fisheries
Fisheries
Open wide: snapper teeth secrets
3 May 2022
NIWA and University of Auckland masters student Georgia Third is getting up close and personal with snapper guts and teeth to understand the differences between biologically distinct snapper populations in New Zealand.
A robot sea craft helps count fish
A six-metre-long autonomous vessel is equipped with artificial intelligence and a range of data gathering equipment, including a battery powered echosounder that can estimate the size of fish populations.
Catch sampling
1 November 2021
The ear bone of a snapper holds a wealth of information. However, it is not until you look at thousands of them that the picture of a population reveals itself. So where do you get 10,000 snapper ear bones from?
Surveying scallops populations with artificial intelligence
17 August 2021
Together with the University of Canterbury and Fisheries NZ, NIWA has been working to develop a catch-free, non-invasive method of surveying scallop populations. Find out how...
Tracking our ocean wanderers
28 July 2020
Albatrosses may be masters of the skies, but they are surprisingly vulnerable on the water. Campbell Gardiner talks to two scientists working to keep these magnificent seabirds airborne.
Science of the high seas
1 February 2020
Ever wondered what fish is served in a Filet-o-Fish at MacDonald’s? It’s hoki. Fish fingers at the supermarket? Chances are, they’ll be hoki too.
Epic spiny red rock lobster
6 January 2020
Sam Fraser-Baxter heads to the Wairarapa for one of New Zealand’s longest-running marine surveys – counting baby lobster.
Robust science is critical to the sustainable use of New Zealand's significant marine and freshwater fisheries. New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is the fifth-largest in the world and home to over 16,000 marine species.
130 of those species are fished commercially, earning the country $1.5 billion in export receipts each year. Balancing the sustainability of our fisheries stocks and the impacts of fishing on the environment with the economic opportunities they offer is an ongoing challenge.
Header photo: Trevally, Kermadec Islands. [Photo: Malcolm Francis]