Download FAR 2026/22 Intertidal shellfish monitoring in the northern North Island region, 2025–26

The collection of seafood is an important recreational activity and of significant cultural importance in New Zealand. This recreational and customary fishing includes the hand-picking and gathering of intertidal bivalves, such as cockles and pipi, which occur on beaches and in estuaries and harbours throughout the country. To ensure the persistence of their populations, regular monitoring is carried out in northern North Island, collecting information of their abundance, density and sizes at a range of sites in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty. This report provides the monitoring information for the 2025–26 fishing year, based on surveys carried out at Bowentown Beach, Eastern Beach, Grahams Beach, Hokianga Harbour, Little Waihi Estuary, Mangawhai Harbour, Marsden Bank, Ngunguru Estuary, Umupuia Beach, Whangamatā Harbour, and Whangateau Harbour. Across sites, cockle populations varied in their size and densities, although all sites had cockle populations of several million individuals. Cockle densities were high at most sites, with hundreds to over one thousand individuals per square metre. The pipi populations were generally smaller and also varied in size, with notable differences in the estimated densities of pipi. The lowest density estimates were 7 and 11 pipi per square metre, compared with over 600 pipi per square metre at one of the sites.