Hauraki Gulf Snapper Tagging Program Underway
A commercial trawler and two longline fishing ships aim to
catch 2000 snapper in the marine reserve around Kawau Island starting today -
but they will be doing it legally.
The ships have been chartered by the National Institute of Water and
Atmospheric Research (Niwa) to test how many snapper die when they are tagged
with the latest electronic tracers. Project manager Jeremy McKenzie said 30 per
cent died when tagged with earlier non-electronic tags.
The tagged fish will be held in a 25m-wide circular cage in the sea near
Kawau Island for two weeks to see how many of them die.
The experiment will be used to assess results from a large-scale tagging
programme to estimate snapper stocks off the west coast.
Friday 25 September 2026
Major Bites
- - Minor Bites
- - Saturday 26 September 2026
Major Bites
- - Minor Bites
- - 
Fishing Reports Visit Reports
Outer Hauraki Gulf Fishing Report 17/09/26
Spring wind the handbrake. Spring is starting to make its presence felt in the outer... Read More >
Top of the South Fishing Report - 17/09/26
Early snapper in Tasman Bay. Well, spring is finally here, and the days are getting... Read More >
Bream Bay Fishing Report - 17/09/26
Good snapper catches reported. After Tangaroa turned off the fish tap for a month or... Read More >
Bay of Islands Fishing Report - 17/09/26
Pacific bluefin tuna for the lucky few. The last fortnight has seen more fishable days... Read More >
Comments