Fish and their products are a large export earner for New Zealand, and an employment opportunity for many people. Also the sea and its fruits are a part of Kiwi "culture". It is a resource that is reliant on itself to survive, with little input from us who take from it. The fishing industry has always been of great interest to me which led me to the point of researching this project. It is fairly obvious to any keen recreational fisher/diver that the stocks of many inshore species are very much depleted from the numbers our forebears harvested. Therefore it is my intention with this project to identify whether we are looking after what stock is remaining, so that the resource will be here for generations to come.

The New Zealand Kellogg Rural Leaders Programme develops emerging agribusiness leaders to help shape the future of New Zealand agribusiness and rural affairs. Lincoln University has been involved with this leaders programme since 1979 when it was launched with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation, USA.