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Snapper and other fish-and-chip favourites are becoming luxury items as countries increasingly look to New Zealand for their fishy fix.
Leading figures in the fishing industry say countries without sustainable fishing measures are helping drive up prices here.
Snapper has seen some of the biggest price hikes and is predicted to continue to rise. John Dory and kingfish have also risen over recent years.
Auckland fish market manager Dennis Camden said a higher Kiwi dollar and growing global demand for snapper have worked in favour of exporters - but left the local market bereft of the summer barbecue favourite.
Countries such as Australia, which had no quota system in place to regulate its fishing, had little snapper left and was keener than ever to buy New Zealand fish.
"The local market is having to compete with everyone else around the world now," Mr Camden said.
Seasonal factors such as spawning time, quotas having already been met before the end of the fishing year in September and bad weather would also contribute towards fluctuations in snapper availability.
Currently selling at his market for around $25 a kilogram, it would continue to rise to around the $30-$35 mark in the near future, he predicted.
And he said kingfish is double the price it was 10 years ago.
Moana-Pacific Fisheries general manager of sales and marketing Russell Pierce said the company had seen an increase in the export market over the past 13 months, with Australia and the United States heading the list.
He would not reveal how much snapper went to the local market, but said it was a "considerable quantity".
"Periodically there might be shortages, but this is due to weather," Mr Pierce said.
Snapper were expensive because the quota needed to fish them was costly in comparison to other species, and factory overheads had to be taken into account, he said.
"There is very little profit in it."
NZ Seafood Industry Council spokeswoman Sarah Crysell said the New Zealand fishing industry quota management system was envied by other countries.
"It is globally extremely well recognised," she said.
Iceland and New Zealand were two countries often held up as examples to the rest of the world.
Around 80 to 90 per cent of NZ's wild and marine-farmed catch is exported, bringing in $2.1 billion each year.
