New Zealand spearfishing champion Darren Shields is urging Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones to ban bottom-trawl fishing, believing it is setting the country up for more collapsed fisheries like two already ruined in Northland.
Shields, who has spent more than five decades fishing and filming marine environments including in Northland, said New Zealanders still had a narrow window to influence fisheries reform as Jones considers changes to commercial fishing regulations.
Proposals include allowing more bycatch species to be landed and sold, instead of discarded at sea.
The debate intensified this week after Shields discovered a trail of dead fish near Auckland’s Great Barrier Island.
In footage posted to social media, Shields pointed towards multiple species floating on the ocean’s surface, saying: “There’s boarfish, there’s pufferfish, there’s baby snapper.”
He said the incident was not isolated – he’d seen similar dumps several times previously, including in Northland.
Coming from a commercial fishing background, Shields said allowing more species to be landed would not address the underlying problem.
“The problem is not commercial fishing – our people need to eat,” he said. “The problem is the system and what’s allowed.”
Shields said at the centre of that system was bottom trawling. The fishing method uses heavy nets that are dragged across the seabed, indiscriminately catching target species along with juvenile fish, reef species and habitat-forming organisms.
Shields said fish caught in bottom-trawl nets are often crushed or hauled rapidly to the surface from deep water, making their survival on release unlikely.
Species with little or no commercial value are discarded dead, while others – such as boarfish – may be of legal size and edible, and are among the type of bycatch Shane Jones wants to allow commercial fishers to land so it won’t go to waste.
Seafood New Zealand has promoted the proposed landing rulings and opposes reforms as part of a broader overhaul of the Fisheries Act, arguing that tighter and clearer rules would reduce waste and improve compliance.
The industry body says allowing certain bycatch species to be landed and sold, rather than discarded, would remove incentives for dumping and make the quota management system more efficient, particularly with the widespread use of on-board cameras and vessel monitoring.
Shields rejects such an approach, arguing it would legitimise waste rather than reduce it.
“Once those fish have a value, they’ll be targeted,” he said. “That means more bottom trawling, more nets across reefs, and more indiscriminate killing.”
Instead, Shields said the industry should be pushed toward lower‑impact fishing methods, such as longlining, which allows fishers to target specific species while avoiding much of the collateral damage caused by trawl nets.
Many common trawl bycatch species do not take baited hooks, meaning they are far less likely to be caught and killed in the first place.
Shields believed the consequences of a take-all approach were already visible in Northland.
The Bay of Islands and the Cavalli Islands once supported flourishing recreational and customary scallop fisheries.
Today, scallop gathering is not permitted. Large stretches of Northland’s coastline are also due to be shut to the taking of red crayfish for at least five years after stocks were fished to critically low levels.
Shields said warning signs were evident for years before those closures were imposed, and if bottom trawling persisted, there was the risk of the same mistakes being repeated elsewhere.
The economic and cultural stakes are especially high for Northland, he said.
The region relies heavily on summer tourism, especially over the Christmas period, when thousands of visitors arrive hoping to catch a feed of fish.
Offshore game fishing for marlin, kingfish and trophy snapper also underpins charter operators, accommodation providers and hospitality businesses.
Just as significant for locals is the long-standing ability for families to access affordable seafood close to home, Shields said. With scallops and crayfish effectively off the table in many areas, further declines would limit food options and deepen frustration in coastal communities.
Fisheries New Zealand has confirmed it is investigating the Great Barrier allegations.
Northern regional manager of fisheries compliance, Andre Espinoza, said illegal discarding from commercial vessels was relatively rare because of their on-board cameras and near real-time vessel monitoring.
“However, we do receive complaints from time to time and follow up on each one,” Espinoza said, noting a recent prosecution of a Napier commercial fisher for discarding offences.
Shields said enforcement alone will not prevent future declines. Waiting until fisheries collapse leads only to tighter closures and greater loss for everyone.
“Once the fish are gone,” Shields said, “what do we have left?”
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, covering a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, mostly as a court reporter in Gisborne and on the East Coast.