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

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.

Production of aquaculture species

NIWA is supporting the advancement of the New Zealand aquaculture sector through the development of high value products of verifiable quality and sustainability.

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.

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.

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.

‘Do fish talk?’ and other important questions:

8 July 2010

A mysterious fish ‘language’ is being uncovered at a New Zealand marine reserve, leading to startling hypotheses about fish communication.
NZ Marine Sciences Society conference on the latest in marine research.

The long walk - assessing stream health in Waitakere

Walking the whole length of streams is slow and difficult, but by far the best way to learn about their environmental condition.

Early findings from kōkopu restoration trials

As part of work to restore galaxiids to urban streams, NIWA scientists have been monitoring the movement of giant and banded kōkopu.

Summer Series 10: Super snapper! Delicious!

29 April 2010

Snapper are New Zealand’s most prized fish; they are the fish fishermen love-to-love. They live in a wide range of habitats in New Zealand’s warmer coastal waters, around the North Island and the top of the South, and prefer depths of 5–60 metres. They grow to a decent size: up to 105 cm in length.

Summer Series 1: You might fall in love this summer, with a sea monster

29 April 2010

This summer, watch out when snorkelling around the New Zealand coastline, for our very own sea monster: Hippocampus abdominalis, the pot-bellied sea horse.

Scientists count ‘tagged’ whitebait species – a case of catch me if you can!

29 March 2010

Scientists returned to the Nukumea Stream in Orewa last week, to investigate the trial release of giant kōkopu. This is the first controlled trial in New Zealand to test whether the native fish, giant kōkopu, can be successfully stocked into a stream.

Last week NIWA scientists carried out electric fishing and night time spotlight surveys, in the stream; capturing and measuring the fish and recording the locations that they were found in.

Bluff oyster beds are growing back despite killer disease, says NIWA

1 March 2010

NIWA and the Bluff Oyster Management Company have just completed a pre-season survey of the oyster beds in Foveaux Strait.

Havelock Mussel Festival

20 March 2010

Year after year the Havelock Mussel Festival is a huge success, drawing crowds of up to 6000 people.
In 2009 there were a record number of 70 stalls which offered food, wine and beer, crafts and industry displays. This was in conjunction with top kiwi entertainment, lots of fun activities - it really is the festival that brings the whole community together.
In 2010 NIWA will again be taking a Gold Sponsorship of the event, sponsoring the The NIWA Kidzone.

Catch me if you can! Scientists play tag with whitebait species

8 December 2009

New Zealand’s iconic whitebait species are disappearing from our waterways, but help could soon be at hand for the threatened giant kōkopu.

Reintroducing giant kōkopu to Nukumea Stream

The giant kōkopu is a native whitebait species considered rare and vulnerable. NIWA is working with Mahurangi Technical Institute and environmental consultancy Boffa Miskell to test the feasibility of reintroducing giant kōkopu to Nukumea Stream, north of Auckland.

From the Edge of Darkness to the Black Abyss: New Zealand Marine Scientists contribute to Marine Life Census 17,500+ Species and Counting

20 November 2009

Researchers at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have contributed their findings to a major news release by the Census of Marine Life charting an astonishing abundance, diversity, and distribution of deep-sea species.

Deepest fish in the southern hemisphere caught on film

13 November 2009

Scientists from the UK, Japan and New Zealand have successfully photographed the deepest fish in the southern hemisphere at 7561 metres deep in the Kermadec Trench, just northeast of New Zealand.

New fish health and nutrition trial units

NIWA has constructed and commissioned two new research units to provide future support and R&D capability to the New Zealand aquaculture sector as it diversifies and develops. They are: a commercial scale nutrition trials unit at Bream Bay Aquaculture Park near Whangarei, and a disease investigation and challenge unit at our Greta Point campus in Wellington.

New hāpuku spawning season begins

Spring is upon us and NIWA’s stock of 86 spawning hāpuku broodstock have emerged from the winter to begin spawning. This is the sixth year we’re spawning from wild-caught broodstock to develop hāpuka as a new high-value aquaculture species.

Developing tools for sustainable aquaculture

New Zealand’s green credentials are a key selling point for aquaculture products in an increasingly discerning world market. With the aquaculture industry poised to expand, we need robust tools to manage potential environmental impacts, including those of new finfish species. NIWA’s sustainable aquaculture programme addresses this need.

Aquaculture and Biotechnology Update 01, September 2010

Welcome to the first e-newsletter from NIWA's National Centre for Aquaculture & Biotechnology. Here, we'll bring you news of aquaculture and biotechnology research at NIWA, and forthcoming events and workshops.

Hāpuku

Using its broad base of capability, NIWA is creating a new aquaculture species for New Zealand - hāpuku - for sale in the world's fine dining sector.

Aquaculture & Biotechnology Update

Welcome to the newsletter for NIWA's National Centre for Aquaculture & Biotechnology. Here we'll bring you news of research discoveries, new initiatives, courses, and events in these exciting and commercially-orientated fields.

Aquaculture and Biotechnology Update 01, September 2010

Freshwater ID guides

These guides are designed for rapid identification of freshwater flora and fauna for use in biomonitoring.

Bay of Islands ocean survey enters next phase

5 August 2009

Inshore and onshore biodiversity sampling activity is about to commence in the Bay of Islands as the Bay of Islands Ocean Survey 20/20 project enters its next phase.

Restoring Kōaro in the Rotorua lakes

The kōaro was once abundant in the Te Arawa lakes near Rotorua in New Zealand’s North Island. NIWA has assessed the viability of restoring this species in the region.

Production of aquaculture species

NIWA is supporting the advancement of the New Zealand aquaculture sector through the development of high value products of verifiable quality and sustainability.

University of Waikato and NIWA: Karori perch pests successfully culled

11 March 2009

In a collaborative study, echosounder surveys of the lower reservoir at ZEALANDIA, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, show that electro-fishing and netting have successfully reduced perch numbers in the conservation safe haven.

NZ Freshwater Fish Database Help

Learn how to use the New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database (NZFFD)

What risk from alien fish?

Koi carp – a high-risk alien species. (Photo: NIWA)

The risk posed by alien fish to our freshwater species and habitats can now be evaluated using a model developed by NIWA scientists. The Freshwater Fish Risk Assessment Model (FRAM) assesses the risk of new alien fish species becoming established in New Zealand, and, importantly, their capacity to damage the environment, giving an overall ‘ecological risk’.
FRAM is powerful and simple to use.