The Live Ocean petition calling for an end to bottom trawling, backed by 73,647 people, is moving through the Parliamentary Petitions Committee. It’s a process that could take up to a year. Here’s the latest update.
When we think about tackling climate change, we picture land-based initiatives like wind farms, electric cars and forests of newly planted trees. We don’t usually picture a 40-tonne whale. But according to a group of economists writing for the International Monetary Fund, we probably should.
The numbers of seabirds dying on hooks in the New Zealand’s surface tuna longline fleet has dropped significantly – early signs that measures made mandatory in 2024 are working.
Young tākoketai black petrel fledglings have surprised researchers by flying up to 26,000km and as far north as Mexico over three months, with some birds taking massive detours on their migration to Ecuador.
Live Ocean today announced a further $100,000 donation from Hugo Charitable Trust that will help support Dr Caitlin Blain, of the University of Auckland, as she moves into the next phase of her pioneering research into the role kelp forests play in the coastal carbon cycle.
For years, tracking the migration of tākoketai black petrel was a race against the battery. Devices lasted only a couple of months – long enough to watch a chick leave the colony, but not long enough to see where its journey truly ended. That has changed.
New Zealand’s Black Foils have won the Better Planet award in SailGP’s global Impact League, recognising their contribution to a New Zealand campaign by Live Ocean to end bottom trawling and the record-breaking swim by Jono Ridler that drove it.
Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) issuing of an International Fishing Permit undermines obligations to protect seamounts and other vulnerable marine ecosystems on the high seas.
The debate has gone on long enough. It’s time for action. There are practical steps that can be taken now to reduce the impact of bottom trawling while supporting a managed transition for industry. That should begin with protecting seamounts.
The Swim4TheOcean petition was formally presented and read in Parliament on 29 April. Last week, on 10 June, Live Ocean and Jono Ridler lodged a written submission in support of the petition’s call to end bottom trawling, outlining in more detail our case for change. Our submission highlights that only Government can lead the change, based on the scientific evidence on bottom trawling impacts, the growth in public concern, and how New Zealand remains out of step internationally.
We’re on a mission to create 1,000 postcards to protect the Hauraki Gulf and we need your help.
Send us your favourite ocean photo and a few words about what you love most about the Gulf, and together, we’ll spotlight why the Gulf deserves urgent protection – for us, and for future generations.