New research has put a multibillion-dollar value on the contribution commercial fishing makes to Aotearoa, highlighting an economic chain stretching from fishing vessels and processing plants to transport companies, retailers, restaurants and the local fish and chip shop.
An independent economic report commissioned by Seafood New Zealand and prepared by BERL estimates wild-capture commercial fishing and associated seafood processing directly contributed approximately $2.45 billion to New Zealand’s GDP in 2025.
The industries directly employ more than 6,200 people, but their economic footprint becomes considerably larger when suppliers, retailers and household spending generated by those jobs are included.
On that wider measure, commercial fishing and seafood processing support more than 14,500 jobs and approximately $6.4 billion in economic activity across the country.
For many coastal and regional communities, the figures demonstrate fishing is not simply an industry operating beyond the shoreline. It remains deeply connected to jobs, whānau incomes, local businesses and regional economic survival.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF A FISHING BOAT
Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Lisa Futschek says the findings demonstrate how far the economic impact of commercial fishing travels beyond vessels and crews.
Fishing supports processing facilities, engineers, fuel suppliers, transport and logistics companies, ports, retailers, hospitality businesses and countless other services.
That means money generated at sea continues circulating through communities once vessels return to port.
It also makes decisions affecting commercial fishing particularly significant for regions where alternative employment opportunities can be limited.
The report found the strongest reliance on fishing and seafood processing was across Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough.
Around 2,000 full-time equivalent workers are directly employed by the industries there, while their wider economic activity supports more than 4,500 jobs.
Fishing and seafood processing contribute more than $750 million to regional GDP, accounting for more than six percent of that regional economy.
Commercial fishing also makes a significant economic contribution in Canterbury, the West Coast, Bay of Plenty and Southland.
FISHING, WHĀNAU AND THE MĀORI ECONOMY
The economic importance of fisheries carries particular significance for Māori.
Fisheries are not only commercial assets but are connected to whakapapa, customary practice, employment, regional development and the relationship between tangata whenua and the moana.
Seafood New Zealand board member and fisheries governor Maru Samuels, who grew up on Matakana Island in the Bay of Plenty, says getting fisheries decisions right can deliver substantial benefits for iwi and whānau.
For coastal communities where employment opportunities can be difficult to find, fishing can provide jobs, income and economic activity that allows whānau to remain within their rohe.
But Samuels also stresses that economic benefit carries an environmental responsibility.
From a Māori perspective, protecting the health of the moana and creating economic opportunity cannot simply be separated from one another.
That makes the future of commercial fisheries about more than measuring how much seafood can be harvested.
It is also about ensuring fishing practices remain sustainable enough to protect fisheries and marine ecosystems for future generations.
$2 BILLION EXPORT INDUSTRY
Fishing also remains an important export earner for Aotearoa.
Seafood exports were worth approximately $2 billion in the year ended March 2025, representing around three percent of New Zealand’s merchandise exports.
Those export dollars are particularly important because much of the economic activity that generates them originates outside the country’s largest cities.
Fishing therefore contributes to the national economy while providing employment and investment in coastal communities that can otherwise struggle to attract large industries.
The BERL research reinforces the argument that the economic value of fisheries cannot be assessed simply by looking at the revenue generated by fishing companies.
Its broader value includes wages paid to workers, spending by households, purchases from suppliers and the businesses that depend on the industry.
WHO PUTS FISH ON THE DINNER TABLE?
There is another part of the fishing economy that is much closer to home — feeding New Zealanders.
Seafood New Zealand says almost three in four New Zealanders eat seafood each week, while fewer than one in ten catch their own fish.
That means commercial fishing remains the principal connection most households have with locally caught seafood.
Supermarkets, fish shops, restaurants, takeaways and the neighbourhood fish and chip shop ultimately depend on a commercial supply chain operating between the ocean and the consumer.
Maintaining that supply becomes part of the wider debate about food security and New Zealanders’ ability to access seafood harvested from their own waters.
ECONOMY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT IS TOO SIMPLE
The findings arrive amid continuing debate over the environmental impact of commercial fishing, including bottom trawling, bycatch, protection of marine habitats and the sustainability of individual fish stocks.
Seafood New Zealand argues the debate should not be reduced to a choice between protecting the environment and protecting jobs.
Instead, it says sustainable fisheries management is fundamental to achieving both.
Without healthy fish stocks and functioning marine ecosystems, there can be no sustainable long-term fishing industry.
But decisions about restricting or changing fishing practices can also have economic consequences for workers, whānau and regional communities.
The challenge for government, iwi, industry, environmental groups and communities is therefore finding the balance between oranga moana and oranga tangata.
MORE THAN WHAT HAPPENS AT SEA
The BERL report puts new numbers around what many fishing communities have understood for generations.
Commercial fishing does not end when a vessel reaches the wharf.
Its economic footprint continues through processing factories, transport networks, local suppliers, shops, restaurants and household spending.
At an estimated $2.45 billion in direct GDP contribution, more than 6,200 direct jobs and $6.4 billion in wider economic activity, the industry remains an important part of New Zealand’s regional economy.
For Māori and other coastal communities, however, the bigger question is how that economic contribution can continue while ensuring the resource supporting it remains healthy.
Because the long-term future of the industry ultimately depends on the same thing as the communities built around it — a healthy and productive moana capable of sustaining generations yet to come.
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