Although the total number of billfish anglers in New Zealand is relatively small, the economic contribution of recreational billfishing is believed to be significantly greater than many other recreational fisheries.

Blue Water Marine Research began using electronic tagging technologies in 2003 to investigate striped marlin from New Zealand’s recreational fishery.

Recreational fishers using boats were surveyed as they returned to boat ramps and marinas between Port Charles and Maketu in the Western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

The amateur harvest of red and packhorse rock lobster in Northland was estimated using creel surveys from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.

For the first time in the southern hemisphere pop-up satellite tags were deployed on large Pacific bluefin tuna in August 2006. Tagging was carried out near the Hokitika Trench as a joint venture between Blue Water Marine Research and Stanford University out of Greymouth, on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

For the first time electronic tags that store and transmit information on the temperature, depth and location have been attached to New Zealand swordfish.

Tag and release has become an integral part of sport fishing in many parts of the world. We provide summaries from the New Zealand Gamefish Tagging Programme for the 2011–12 year, including the 1945 fish released and 58 recaptures.

The New Zealand billfish logbook programme is designed to collect catch and effort information from recreational vessels targeting marlin off northern New Zealand during the season, December through May.

Striped marlin are one of a range of large oceanic pelagic species caught by recreational and commercial fishers in New Zealand waters.