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.

Environmental columnist Sam Judd takes a look at the disastrous consequences of the Japan earthquake on our food chain.

The commercial fishing industry has accused recreational fishers of overfishing and depleting snapper stocks.

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

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.

Just when you think the Prime Minister's pragmatic streak has surely drunk for too long at the well of political convenience, John Key promptly undertakes an even more audacious departure from the ideological ethos supposedly guiding his party.

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

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).

New Zealand's highest-profile fishery remains well below its sustainability target and a fight is looming over who should bear the brunt of restrictions - recreational fishers or the $50 million commercial sector.