What New Zealanders think about marine recreational fishing

Abstract

Opinions run hot on the future management of New Zealand’s marine recreational fisheries. There is much at stake. Recreational fishers spend about one billion dollars a year targeting the five most commonly caught marine species. Recreational catches can be as much as ten times commercial harvests for some species. However, little is known about participation in the recreational marine fishery, or what New Zealanders think about the state of the fishery. A March 2002 survey of 2000 randomly chosen New Zealanders, undertaken by a team of Lincoln University researchers, provides some insights.