A body seen floating in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour was ignored, joked about and photographed, but few people were willing to help.

There is a trout lure called a toby which has been around for generations, and like many top lures it originated in Scandinavia. But, as with most fishing experiences, one is often surprised at how the fish change the rules or do the unexpected.

Fishing is fickle, the saying goes. And as summer departs and cold nights descend and leaves start turning, the snapper turn up. It has been a long wait, but the old Maori knew this was often the way. They called May tamure, in honour of the snapper.

Sharks have forced themselves back into the minds of Australians.

Scientists have used an underwater camera to count large snapper in Hauraki Gulf marine reserves.

A mystery sunken yacht with links to New Zealand, discovered off the coast of Darwin, is unlikely to be the Nina.

Cuts to snapper limits come into force on Tuesday, with the increase in the minimum size from 27cm to 30cm. The new rules apply only to the Snapper 1 area, which runs from Cape Runaway to North Cape on the east coast, which is the main snapper fishery.

Crayfish fishing around our coastlines is thought to be triggering a damaging sequence of effects that also threatens the species' infants.

Kaikoura's world-renowned wild marine environment will be better protected by a new marine reserve.

There have been some bright spots on the fishing scene, with occasional bags of nice snapper reported.

The massive accommodation block of the wrecked container ship Rena has seen daylight for the first time in more than two years.

A three-hour search was carried out in Western Bay of Plenty last night after a boat carrying three men was reported overdue.

Scientists hoping to boost marine life and water quality in the Hauraki Gulf are buoyed by the instant success of a trial to re-establish mussel beds on the seafloor.

A Bay of Plenty sailor thought he'd gone back in time when his catamaran almost struck what appeared to be a World War II-era sea mine off the Auckland coast.

About 1500 litres of aviation fuel leaked into Lyttelton Harbour after a storage tank was damaged by a landslip during the storm that hit the area earlier this week.

Three new marine reserves, covering 435,000 hectares of ocean, have been set up in the subantarctic today.

A free diver who was dragged to the depths of the ocean by a killer whale has told how he got down to his "last breath" during the terrifying ordeal.

When a bedraggled and bewildered Jose Salvador Alvarenga washed up on a remote Pacific atoll many were sceptical of his tale - but it's been backed by scientists.

Ferry operator Fullers admits dumping raw sewage into the Hauraki Gulf, but says a new Waiheke Island vessel due in August will have large enough holding tanks to avoid that.

The stranding of nine orca in Southland is only the third such mass stranding of the species recorded in New Zealand, a specialist researcher says.

A Japanese whaling ship is reported to have tailed an anti-whaling ship into waters off Otago against the wishes of the NZ Govt, which labelled the move 'disrespectful'.