Sadly, the Gulf isn’t as abundant as it used to be. Snapper may be one of the only fish species that is estimated to be growing in numbers within the Gulf.
Since the development of industrial fishing, the massive schools of small pelagic fish such as kahawai have disappeared from inshore waters. Historic accounts of acres of surface schools as far as the eye could see are now just that, historic.
Diving seabirds such as shearwaters and petrels which are susceptible to capture in bottom trawl nets have declined by 67% in the Hauraki Gulf.