LEGASEA’S FISHCARE Summer
PHOTO COMPETITION 2023/24
Overall Winner: Andy Belcher. “I moved towards this fish slowly and very carefully – it paid off because my two camera strobes really brought it to life with superb patterns and colour.”
This summer, LegaSea placed the photo competition under its FishCare programme to help shed light on the myriad of issues facing our oceans and marine life, and also to educate fishers on its five principles: Reduce Wastage, Maximum Survival of Fish, Maximum Utilisation,
Impact, and Safety/Personal Wellbeing.
The FishCare photo comp lets the public showcase their photography skills (and win some cool prizes courtesy of generous category sponsors), it gives LegaSea some amazing imagery to help spread their important message, and it provides the opportunity for readers of NZ Fishing News to immerse themselves in the beauty of our oceans.
The categories are all pretty special and feel-good, bar one – which covers the nitty-gritty of what isn’t working in our oceans. It’s the pollution, the overfishing, the death and destruction of the marine world. Grim right? But that’s the reality!
Underwater Category: Andy Belcher. Diadema Palmeri moving along kelp at night, Poor Knights Islands.
Winner, Underwater Category: Judy Ormandy. Blue cod, Taputeranga Marine Reserve.
Winner, Landscapes Category: Andy Belcher. Sunset on the South Island’s lower west coast.
Landscapes Category: Laura Bell. Carved by the tide, Marlborough coast.
Landscapes Category: Jack Grant. Golden hour where the trees meet the sea, Otaio Bay.
Marine Life Category: Bevan Miles. Leopard Anemones.
Marine Life Category: Andy Belcher. Blue maomao reflected in the Bubble Cave at Middle Arch, Poor Knights Islands.
Winner, Marine Life Category: Karena Kaihe-Woolston.
Winner, Catching Kai Category: Jack Lusk. First snapper, Kawau Island.
Catching Kai Category: Daniel Tiria. Keeping the kina in check in the Hauraki Gulf.
Catching Kai Category. Amber Jones. Piper from the wharf, Tairua.
Catching Kai Category: Zachary Penman. Kingfish sneaking up on diver, Ariel Reef, Gisborne.
Winner, Preparing, Cooking & Eating Kaimoana Category: Irene Middleton. The whole fish and nothing but the fish – a blue cod prepped for multiple dinners in Fiordland.
Preparing, Cooking & Eating Kaimoana Category: Amber Jones. Who can leave the least meat on the bone? Go!
Preparing, Cooking & Eating Kaimoana Category: Amber Jones. Opoūtere cockles.
Preparing, Cooking & Eating Kaimoana Category: Irene Middleton. Enjoying the whole cray in Dusky Sound, Fiordland.
Winner, Things Ain’t Right in Our Oceans Category: Chris Paulin. Ghost fishing – blue penguin entangled in discarded fishing gear, Makara Beach.
Things Ain’t Right in Our Oceans Category: Jordan Titchmarsh. Seal caught in old fishing net, north Waikato west coast.
Things Ain’t Right in Our Oceans Category: Jack Grant. That’s not my field! Roaming cows polluting the waterways, Northland.