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

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.

Tauranga angler Kevin Baker can tell you - and it doesn't involve filleting or scoffing the whopper tuna he scooped at the weekend.

As any manufacturer knows, it is a risky business messing with success. Popular products got that way for a reason and changing them, however slightly, can be fraught.

A multi-language campaign to get West Auckland rock fishers to wear lifejackets is struggling to make headway against an undercurrent of risky behaviour.

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

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

Proposed cuts to snapper limits could have widespread adverse effects - to the New Zealand marine industry and its exports, to provincial towns and some of our poorest communities.

The snapper comparison set a lovely trap for Labour leader David Shearer, who obliged by falling into it, writes Claire Trevett.

The indication that individual snapper have been growing more slowly over the past 15 years is a sign that all is not well, Raewyn Pearl.

There is no system of recording just how many snapper are not landed because commercial fishers are over their quota, writes Bill Hohepa.

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.

Nathan Guy - it's time to front up and talk to fishers and maybe then you can say we're in the process of a public consultation, writes John Durrant.

Proposed cuts to recreational snapper quotas have hit a nerve with politicians on both sides of the House as electorate MPs in fishing hotspots come under pressure for meddling with fishers' bag limits.

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

Snapper fishing and diving have been producing some excellent bags in spite of the wintry conditions.