Fish

Latest news

Tangaroa heads back to sea – with social distancing

13 May 2020

NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa will sail out of Wellington Harbour on Sunday for the first scientific voyage since the lockdown.

The King of the Fish

Feature story

29 April 2020

Before fish Alvin Setiawan studied weta and penguins. These days he’s never far from the kingfish tanks at NIWA’s Northland Marine Research Centre at Bream Bay.

Extremely rare albino shark discovered in Auckland

Media Release

22 April 2020

A deep dive into the collection of an Auckland War Memorial Museum has revealed an extremely rare albino shark.

Giant squid and glow-in-the-dark sharks surprise scientists

Media Release

17 February 2020

A giant squid and several glow-in-the-dark sharks were surprise finds for NIWA scientists last month on the Chatham Rise during a voyage to survey hoki, New Zealand’s most valuable commercial fish species.

Our work

Cultural Keystone Species - co-management and restoration of our freshwater taonga species

Māori communities around the country note that the abundance, size and/or distribution of tuna, kōura and kāeo/kākahi is declining and that current populations aren’t sufficient to meet their needs.

Historical changes in juvenile fish habitats

NIWA is looking for people who have had a long association with the Hauraki Gulf or Marlborough Sounds to help them with a research project on juvenile fish habitats.

New Zealand fish passage guidelines

The New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines sets out recommended practice for the design of instream infrastructure to provide for fish passage.

Improving Tonga’s deepwater demersal line fishery

NIWA is in its third year of a 5-year phased project on the deepwater line fishery in Tonga funded by the NZ Aid Programme’s Partnership for International Development Fund. The aim of the project is to deliver the improved governance, management, and economic and biological sustainability of the fishery focusing on deepwater snapper and bluenose in the Tonga EEZ.

Latest videos

The world's most mysterious fish

A video about The world's most mysterious fish. NIWA researchers are working with iwi to try to unlock the secrets of New Zealand tuna—freshwater eels. Every year tiny, glass eels wash in on the tide at river mouths along our coast. But where do they come from and how do they get there?

Science on the high seas

Sustainable fisheries depend on good scientific data about fish stocks. NIWA scientists head out into Cook Strait on Research Vessel Kaharoa to survey the hoki fishery and advise officials on catch rates.

Freshwater fish swim their all for science

The tiny inanga have been plucked from Waikato streams and held in a darkened laboratory for the last month, undertaking highly advanced testing to find the strongest, fittest and fastest fish.

Ocean acidification—what is it?

The on-going rise of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere is not only changing our climate—it is also changing our oceans. Take a look at the work of the NIWA-led CARIM project into what these changes may mean for the delicate balance of marine life.

Trout habitat mapping protocol

Community interest in maintaining healthy trout fisheries has underpinned a significant drive to protect water quality in New Zealand.

Biological limitations

Some fish may still be scarce or absent even though recruitment is occurring, habitat is present and there is no recent history of pollution or floods.

Reducing overfishing

If you suspect overfishing is reducing fish numbers, contact DOC or Fish & Game.

Poor recruitment

A problem with recruitment is usually indicated by the absence, or very low density, of fish where they would normally be present.

Guide to restoring freshwater native fish in streams

The environmental effects of developing land and water for human use have decimated New Zealand's native fish fauna, but we now have the knowledge to reverse this trend and restore native fish in streams.

Association of Women in the Sciences

28 July 2011 to 29 July 2011

NIWA is sponsoring the Association of Women in the Sciences (AWIS) conference being held in Auckland.

For more information about the conference see AWIS conference website

Stocking fish

If the low abundance of fish in your stream is not related to a reduction in habitat, waterquality, flow or the presence of downstream barriers, it might be due to the inability of juvenile fish to enter the stream.

Restoring fish passage

The movements of many juvenile native fish are often hindered by barriers to fish passage such as dams, weirs, falls, tide gates, culverts, screens and high water velocities. The New Zealand Fish Passage Guidelines sets out recommended practice for the design of instream infrastructure to provide for fish passage.

Where will the young fish play?

Seagrass meadows provide vital habitat for juvenile fish, but are disappearing at an alarming rate in many places. NIWA scientists are finding out more about the role seagrass plays in the life of young fish.

Stay at home snapper

8 March 2011

NIWA studies reveal that different movement and behaviours exist within snapper stock – some snapper stay at home, while some range for hundreds of kilometres. Our studies also show that marine reserves may well be affecting the behaviour of fish that inhabit them.

NIWA creates designer homes for fish

28 January 2011

Seagrass meadows – vital nursery grounds for young fish – are vanishing at an alarming rate worldwide.

Summer Series 5: Cockles and Pipis, alive, alive-oh

21 January 2011

Over the long hot summer many kiwis will be digging deep in the sand for pipi. These yummy shellfish live buried in the sand and are free at the beach!

Summer Series 4: Lamprey – the vampire of the sea

20 January 2011

A shy, slimy, ancient fish, that looks like an eel but isn't. It has a circular sucker for a mouth, and feeds by rasping a hole in its victim's fishy-flesh.

Summer Series 2: Kahawai, the people’s fish

13 January 2011

Kahawai are an iconic species for recreational fishers. They are fantastic fighters and are found in most coastal waters, harbours, and estuaries around New Zealand, in both the North Island and South Island.

Summer Series 3: Slippery devils – longfin eels

28 December 2010

Lurking in the depths of freshwater waterways, all around New Zealand, longfin eels are the most common fish in our rivers. The native longfin eel, at up to 1.6 metres in length, is something to be in awe of, especially when there's a crowd of them – and they aren't the most attractive thing you've ever seen.

Identifying vulnerable invertebrates in toothfish bycatch

Information on vulnerable marine invertebrates caught as bycatch in the Ross Sea toothfish fishery is helping to assess the environmental impacts of the fishery. It also contributes to knowledge of vulnerable species distribution in Antarctic waters.

Upgraded research vessel

12 December 2010

The return of the upgraded RV Tangaroa represents a huge advancement for New Zealand science and exploration

NIWA today welcomed home RV Tangaroa, New Zealand’s only deepwater research vessel, after a $20 million dollar upgrade to enhance its ocean science and survey capabilities.

Frightening fishy finds

1 November 2010

NIWA looked deep – to almost 1840 metres – and found new-to-science fish, close to the seafloor. The ocean revealed specimens of some rarely seen, and some previously unknown, fishes from New Zealand waters.

Tools

The tools available for restoring native fish to streams depend on what is causing fish to decline.

Identifying the problem

Identifying the factors causing fish numbers to drop will allow you to determine which restoration tools you need to employ.

Good progress on selective breeding

NIWA is making good progress in developing elite broodstock of three new aquaculture species: kingfish, hāpuku, and pāua – the latter with industry partners OceanNZ Blue Ltd.

Benthic fauna thrives in fishing exclusion zone

Research has revealed key differences in seafloor communities and habitats inside and outside the Separation Point trawl fishing exclusion zone in Tasman Bay. These have important implications for valuable benthic fisheries in the area.

High Performance Aquaculture Broodstock - Progress Update August 2010

This programme runs until 2013. To date, we've achieved many key milestones towards developing elite kingfish, hāpuku, and pāua broodstock for the future aquaculture industry. These are summarised below.

High Value Aquaculture - Progress Update August 2010

The High Value Aquaculture Programme has made great progress on a number of fronts. Here, we summarise highlights for all four species: kingfish, hapuku, paua, and salmon.

Fine dining on hapuku

2 September 2010

NIWA has recently tested our cultured hapuku on a selection of high profile chefs as part of our development of new high value species for the New Zealand aquaculture industry. The fish was highly praised for its taste and versatility of use and shows potential to grace fine dining establishments in North America, Europe and Asia.