The rough seas of the southern Pacific Ocean are set to be the focus of resource consent debate as a mining company's bid to dredge the sea floor comes up against the fishing industry and environmentalists.

As predicted, the Government has kicked for touch on the controversial issue of snapper in the Hauraki Gulf.

The willingness of fishing folk to talk up their difficulties arguably outstrips their enthusiasm for whoppers about the ones that get away.

Recreational fishers say they are the losers - despite winning the "rights" to all of a 500 tonne increase in the total allowable snapper catch.

Bad weather was no barrier to a stream of visitors heading to Cape Reinga, with Kiwis on a pilgrimage north outnumbering tourists.

Snapper bag limits in the country's most popular fishery will be reduced from nine to seven, and the minimum legal size increased from 27cms to 30cms from April 1.

Pacific nations need to take advantage of the multi-billion-dollar fishery on their doorstep by sending fresh sashimi to high-paying customers in Asia.

Consumers of fish who do not take pleasure in the kill should be considered in debate too.

A Nelson fisherman accused of telling competitors of deep sea fishing giant Sealord where the good fishing spots are has won $80,000 in an unjustified dismissal case.

Cuts to the 4500-tonne total allowable commercial catch in the Snapper 1 fishery will be on the table if a Labour Government is elected.

A fishy stunt in Parliament by Labour leader David Shearer appeared to backfire after it spawned a round of dead fish jokes.

New Zealand's largest iwi, Ngapuhi, has thrown its weight behind a campaign to protect the snapper bag limit of recreational anglers.

Let's get one thing straight. Chatham Rock Phosphate wouldn't be considering extracting phosphate nodules from a tiny fraction.

Interfering with fishing nurseries could devastate the entire hoki fishery and cost the country millions of dollars, writes Eric Barratt.

Why is it that 20 years after a Treaty settlement awarded iwi a fifth of new fishing quotas, we do not have a deep-sea industry employing many more young Maori?

Maori fishing quota holders will be exempt from legislation designed to protect migrant workers on foreign chartered vessels from exploitation.

The wasabi sauce wasn't the only hot food item at a Whangarei sushi joint - the paua being used was also hot, having been bought illegally.

Recreational fishers face significant bag or size limit restrictions under all three options revealed for managing the depleted Snapper 1 fishery from October 1.

Aotearoa Fisheries said its first-half earnings fell sharply after its 50 per cent-owned seafood business, Sealord, wrote down the value of its loss-making Argentinian fishing business.

The best place to find snapper is close around the rocks, which is good news for shore-based fishermen as well as those in small boats.

The passions that fishing can arouse are hard to fathom for the unconverted. Many think the odds are stacked in favour of the fish and leave it to the experts.

These New Zealand snapper, sold in United States supermarkets and around the world, look tiny but may just be legal.

A Whangarei man who has been a commercial fisher for 40 years is disputing reports that Northland snapper stocks are below sustainable levels.

Sensitivity over new management options for the country's biggest snapper fishery is prompting deep thought within the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Officers aboard one of two Korean-owned deep-sea trawlers berthed in Dunedin are facing allegations of illegally dumping fish at sea, brought by the fisheries division of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).