Fisheries New Zealand says incidents involving this amount of coral are "very rare". Video / Cameron Pitney
Conservationists say Sir David Attenborough would be “mortified” by images of six tonnes of coral caught in a single trawl net off New Zealand’s east coast.
Seafood New Zealand’s CEO Lisa Futschek called the catch a “highly regrettable” mistake, noting it was reported as required by law.
Karli Thomas from the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition criticised New Zealand’s practices, urging stronger protections for seamounts and corals.
Conservationists say revered broadcaster and environmentalist Sir David Attenborough would be “mortified” by new images showing a record six tonnes of protected coral inside a single trawl net on the deck of a bottom trawling vessel off the east coast of New Zealand.
Images of the accidental catch, released underthe Official Information Act, show a bulging net of different-coloured stony coral, which is protected under the Wildlife Act.
Seafood New Zealand’s CEO Lisa Futschek told the Herald it was a “highly regrettable” mistake as the net was deployed in the wrong place and “landed on the side of a [underwater] feature”.
A photo of commercial fishing vessel's net filled with protected coral caught at Chatham Rise east of New Zealand between October and December last year.
The coral was caught late last year by a bottom trawler operating in the Chatham Rise – a deep-water fishing ground 1400km east of Christchurch where species including hoki, ling and orange roughy are targeted.
Fisheries New Zealand’s science and information director Simon Lawrence said the last time such a large amount of coral was captured in a single trawling event was in 2008 – almost two decades ago.
“Incidents involving bycatch of this amount of coral are very rare,” he said.
Lawrence emphasised that the fishers involved did not break the law as the catch was reported as is required.
He said the net contained both dead and living coral, as well as an unknown quantity of mud from the seafloor.
A close-up photo of stony coral in a trawl net shows both dead and live versions of the protected species.
“Photos of the capture were analysed by experts at the Department of Conservation, who noted that the capture appeared to be a mix of long-dead (black coral fragments) and more recently dead coral, with whiter patches potentially including live areas,” he said.
We’re not proud whenever we accidentally capture species we are not targeting.
The coral capture follows the global release of the documentary Ocean by broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, much of which laments the damage caused by certain fishing methods like bottom trawling.
Seafood New Zealand (SNZ), the group representing the commercial fishing sector, published a press statement in response to Attenborough’s movie last month saying New Zealand’s commercial fishing sector was an “inspiration to the rest of the world”.
Lisa Futschek CEO of Seafood New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
Futschek said in the statement while the industry “can’t claim to be perfect”, some of the concerns Attenborough raised have already been addressed.
“In fact, we hoped that the story of how commercial fishing is done in New Zealand could be the sort of good news a global treasure like Sir David needs on his 99th birthday,” Futschek said.
The statement emphasised New Zealand’s “strictly enforced” quota management system, that bottom trawling is banned in 30% of the country’s waters and noted inventions like weighted hooks and the use of innovative trawl nets which don’t crush fish when caught.
Futschek said “we are not proud” of captures of species that are not being targeted by fishers, but stood by her comments, telling the Herald the country’s commercial fishing sector had an impressive track record overall.
“There is so much for us to be proud of. We have achieved, for example, led by industry, 30% protection of our oceans [from bottom trawling]. We’ve already got there through our series of benthic protection areas and closed seamount areas,” she said.
She said she’d welcome a visit from Attenborough.
“We would love to host Sir David Attenborough in New Zealand and show him how we do it here.”
An image for the documentary Ocean with David Attenborough. Photo / Supplied
Details of the massive coral catch have emerged as world leaders gather for the United Nations Ocean Conference (Unoc) in France – a meeting focused on accelerating efforts to protect the ocean.
Karli Thomas from the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition, who is in France for the meeting, said she did not believe Attenborough would see New Zealand as a shining example of fishing sustainability.
“I think it’s absolutely nonsense,” she told the Herald.
Karli Thomas is from the environmental advocacy group the Deep-Sea Conservation. Photo / DSCC
Prince William interviewed Attenborough about Ocean before the Unoc, and in a video segment released on Saturday Attenborough emphasised his concerns about bottom contact fishing.
“What we have done to the deep ocean floor is just unspeakably awful,” Attenborough said.
“If you did anything remotely like it on land, everybody would be up in arms.”
Thomas believed Attenborough would be “mortified” by images of a fishing net bulging with coral.
We’re seeing footage of NZ bottom trawling which is worse than David Attenborough’s nightmares
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is at the meeting representing New Zealand and said on X he’d caught up with other political leaders, including the UK’s Environment Secretary Steve Reed who announced before the conference an extension of a bottom trawling ban across English waters.
Peters announced in June last year New Zealand was committing US$10m to the Global Fund for Coral Reefs - money to support conservation initiatives until 2030.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters met UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed in France. Photo / Winston Peters / X
Thomas said she’d like to see more action from New Zealand.
“We’d love to see New Zealand come here [to the Unoc] and announce that it was going to do better for our seamounts and for the corals that we find in New Zealand waters. That would be an announcement to be proud of. Instead, we’re seeing footage of New Zealand bottom trawling, which is worse than David Attenborough’s nightmares,” she told the Herald.
She said if such a capture had happened outside New Zealand’s territorial waters, international rules would have led to a suspension of all fishing in the area.
“We’re actually in this situation where our own regulations are weaker than those that were agreed by consensus in an international forum,” she said.
Commercial fishers in New Zealand are required to report captures of protected species such as seabirds, marine turtles, dolphins and many corals, which is then recorded as fishing “bycatch”.
Thomas questioned whether it should be deemed acceptable to bring up such a significant amount of a protected species like stony coral.
“If this is legal, we need to change the law,” she said.
Trawling on ‘sandy, muddy seafloors?’
A Ministry of Primary Industries observer photographed bubblegum coral on a trawl vessel. The image formed part of a 2024 Niwa report that aimed to identify types of coral caught in the commercial fishing sector between July 2022 and June 2023.
The commercial fishing sector has long argued that bottom trawling happens on featureless parts of the seafloor, and that fishing boats return to the same areas.
The SNZ website has video showing a trawl net gliding across a flat muddy seafloor, titled “what does bottom trawling really look like?”
However, there are plenty of examples where trawling occurs on areas that can’t be deemed featureless, muddy seafloor.
The latest Fisheries NZ data shows between January and March this year trawl vessels caught 364.14kg of coral.
A 2024 report from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) analysed different types of coral caught between July 2022 and June 2023.
The Niwa report was compiled to help observers better identify different types of coral species if they were pulled in during bottom trawling.
The report said experts analysed 2854 photos of coral taken on vessels and found 2595 of the images were of a protected species.
The biggest number of protected corals examined were caught in fisheries management area four – the same area where the recent six-tonne coral catch was landed at the Chatham Rise.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald‘s video team in July 2024.
