Tindale Marine Research Charitable Trust

Tindale Marine Research Charitable Trust Our mission is to promote undertake and encourage environmental education, conservation and research for the better understanding of our marine environment.

Here we share some of the citizen science & current research projects we are involved in.

T19225 Blue CodThis blue cod has been caught three times by members of the same family; its story starts here. In early ...
31/08/2026

T19225 Blue Cod
This blue cod has been caught three times by members of the same family; its story starts here. In early November 2022 Trust directors Scott and Sue were travelling around the South Island tagging fish and handing out fish posters and stickers to the public at every beach, bay or wharf that they stopped at. Their goal was to have tagged fish at every location in New Zealand. On one of their stopovers Scott gave a talk on the tagging program at the Tautuku Fishing Club. Afterwards one of the members Ian Gunian invited both Scott and Sue out for an afternoon fish off Taieri River the following day. They hatched a plan and headed out on the 7th of November 2022. During the afternoon they tagged and released 43 fish over a range of different species fishing in 10m of water. One of the fish that they tagged was a 32.5cm blue cod that Ian caught on a bait.
60 days later on the 6th of January 2023 this blue cod was recaptured by Ruben Shaw, Ian’s 9-year-old grandson while fishing in the same area. Ian recorded the tag number and released it again.
1053 days later on the 23rd of November 2025 Ian took his other grandson 15-year-old Lachie Shaw fishing in the same area where Lachie recaptured this fish again. Lachie measured the fish at 40.5cm. Unfortunately, this time it could not be released. Ian commented that he quite often sees these tagged fish when he dives along this coast.
Since its initial tag and release 3 years earlier this blue cod has grown 8cm in the 1113 days at large. As blue cod reach maturity at around 2 years of age the offspring from this fish when first tagged and released would now be close to legal size and spawning themselves. Food for thought when it comes to deciding to keep or tag and release a fish.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T28419 KingfishThis is Kingi Ranui’s 2nd recapture for this quarter and his 12th recapture from the 124 fish that he has...
31/08/2026

T28419 Kingfish
This is Kingi Ranui’s 2nd recapture for this quarter and his 12th recapture from the 124 fish that he has tagged and released since joining the tagging program.
Portia Clayton was saltwater fly fishing from a boat in 0.5m of water in Tauranga Harbour on the 30th of November 2025 when she recaptured a tagged kingfish. Portia said ‘the kingfish was a ray rider, one of three in a group, all roughly the same size. There was a small bit of inflammation around the tag, but otherwise the fish was healthy’. She measured the fish at 66cm and took a quick photo before releasing it back into the water again.
This kingfish measured 57cm when tagged and released by Kingi Ranui 173 days earlier on the 11th of June 2025 while live baiting from shore in Tauranga Harbour.
Since its tag and release this fish has grown 9cm and was recaptured a straight-line distance by sea of 5.39km away from its original tag and release location.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T35867 bronze whalerOn the 25th of April 2026 Jason Boa was land based shark fishing at Totaranui when he recaptured a t...
28/08/2026

T35867 bronze whaler
On the 25th of April 2026 Jason Boa was land based shark fishing at Totaranui when he recaptured a tagged Bronze Whaler Shark. Jason said that the shark put up a good fight. He measured it at 246cm total length (TL) and took a quick photo before releasing it again.
This shark had been tagged and released 36 days earlier by fellow Trust member Barend Venter while land-based shark fishing at Totaranui on the 21st of March 2026. Barend measured the shark at 240cm TL.
This is Barend’s 1st recapture from the 11 fish that he has tagged since joining the tagging program in March 2024.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T24393 snapperThe Trust was contacted by Andy Brannen who reported the recapture of a 33.5cm tagged snapper that he caug...
28/08/2026

T24393 snapper
The Trust was contacted by Andy Brannen who reported the recapture of a 33.5cm tagged snapper that he caught on a ledger rig in 32m of water in Delaware Bay, Tasman Bay on the 26th of April 2026. Andy said ‘it was quite deep water, but the fish swam away and down strong after he re-released it. He said ‘that he managed the fish with a rubber net and wet towel. It will be interesting if it gets recaptured again after release success at that depth. Cheers and thanks for your good work’
This snapper was tagged and released 42 days earlier on the 16th of March 2026 by Reice Piggott who was fishing in 18m of water in Tasman Bay. Reice measured the fish at 32.5cm prior to release.
Since its tag and release this fish has grown 1 cm in length and was recaptured a straight-line distance by sea of 31.2km away from its tag and release location. This is Reice’s 1st recapture from the 35 fish that he has tagged since joining the tagging program in 2021.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T32025 kingfishSteven Jameson has been a member of the tagging program for a number of years and since joining the progr...
28/08/2026

T32025 kingfish
Steven Jameson has been a member of the tagging program for a number of years and since joining the program he has tagged 59 fish and had seven recaptured.
On the 28th of December 2025, Steven was live baiting in 8m of water at Port Jackson where he caught a 110cm kingfish. After quickly tagging, measuring and taking a photo of the fish Steven released it back into the water. Steven said ‘this fish was one of the four caught that day and it was a reasonably easy fight for a fish of this size’.
139 days later on the 15th of May 2026 this fish was recaptured by Gazza Wilson who was fishing with a live kahawai for bait near Port Jackson. Gazza caught and kept the tagged kingfish so was able to measure the fish at 117cm V-length and weight at 18.9kg. An increase of 7cm in length in just over 4½ months.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T32455 snapperTrust directors Scott and Sue Tindale took Orokawa on a tagging trip up north in February 2025. As they ma...
28/08/2026

T32455 snapper
Trust directors Scott and Sue Tindale took Orokawa on a tagging trip up north in February 2025. As they made their way up the coast they stopped at Whangamumu Bay for the night. While Sue was cooking dinner Scott tagged and released a 36cm snapper that he caught on a bait in 4.19m of water.
453 days (1 year, 2 months, 29 days) later on the 4th of May 2026 this fish was recaptured by Ken Button while softbaiting in 5m of water in Whangamumu Harbour. Ken measured the fish at 43cm and kept it for dinner. It had grown 7cm in that time and recaptured in the same area.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

The Trust was contacted by Alan Basalaj, Skipper of the commercial trawler Kathleen G to report the recapture of a 92cm ...
28/08/2026

The Trust was contacted by Alan Basalaj, Skipper of the commercial trawler Kathleen G to report the recapture of a 92cm Rig that was caught in 60m of water about 9km off the Kapiti coast. Alan said ‘unfortunately it was dead by the time we found it had a tag, otherwise we would have liked to record and release it’. This is the second tagged fish recovered by Alan from the Trust tagging program.
This female rig was originally tagged and released on the 10th of September 2022, 1342 days (3 years, 8 months, 4 days) earlier by Andrew Boyes who was surfcasting from the Raumati shore. It was one of 3 rig he caught that day and it measured at total length of 82cm.
Since this fish was tagged over three and a half years earlier it had grown 10cm in length and was recaptured 13.2km straight line distance by sea southwest of its original tag and release location. This is Andrew's 6th recapture from 47 fish tagged and released.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T20701/G blue codI enjoy writing about this little guy as he has now been caught 7 times. This fish’s story demonstrates...
23/08/2026

T20701/G blue cod
I enjoy writing about this little guy as he has now been caught 7 times. This fish’s story demonstrates that the tag and release process has little or no adverse effect on him. Still foraging, growing and dodging ferries.
His story begins on the 5th of June 2022 when Graham Wilson caught him while fishing off the Picton shoreline. He measured 34cm at the time. On the 3rd of August 2023 he was caught by Russell Wilson in the same general area. Russell measured him at 37.5cm before releasing him again. Russell Wilson recaptured him again on the 29th of August 2023 but has increased to 40cm when Russell caught him the 5th time on the 15th of September 2024. Still in the same general area. Russell and this fish have clearly formed an attachment to each other because Russell caught him again on the 8th of February 2025, and for a 7th time on the 24th of May 2026. The last time it measured 42cm. Since its initial tag and release 1450 days earlier (3 years, 11 months and 20 days) this fish has had four extra breeding seasons, grown 8cm and is still happily foraging in the same area.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T26467 snapperKarl Yeo was doing an evening fish in 10m of water at Kawau in the Hauraki Gulf on the 30th of August 2025...
23/08/2026

T26467 snapper
Karl Yeo was doing an evening fish in 10m of water at Kawau in the Hauraki Gulf on the 30th of August 2025 and one of the fish that he caught was a 78cm snapper. Karl caught the fish on half a mullet; he said that the fish was in a really good condition and was really fat. After tagging the fish Karl took a quick photo before re-releasing it.
241 days (7 months, 29 days) later on the 27th of April 2026 this fish was recaptured by Cory Dykman while softbaiting at Kawau in 6m of water. Cory measured the fish at 80cm and said, ‘the fish was re-released quickly and in good health’.
Since being tagged by Karl 241 days earlier this fish was recaptured a straight-line distance by sea of 2.49km away from its original tag and release location and has grown 2cm.
This is Karl’s 3rd recapture from the 10 fish that he has tagged since joining the tagging program.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

T22239 Bronze Whaler SharkOn the 1st of January 2026 the Trust was contacted by Jayden Boughey who reported the recaptur...
23/08/2026

T22239 Bronze Whaler Shark
On the 1st of January 2026 the Trust was contacted by Jayden Boughey who reported the recapture of a Bronze Whaler Shark that was caught by Reinah Coma while surfcasting a bait from the shore at Rangiputa Beach that morning.
Jayden said “The fish didn’t fight as hard as most sharks of this size. It was extremely docile; however, it was in really good shape. The fish swam away confidently after the hook was removed. There was no sign of other hooks in its mouth, however, there appears to be a fresh hole from perhaps a previous hook”.
This shark had been tagged and released 278 days (9 months, 3 days) earlier by Gilbert Groenewald while shark fishing from shore at Papamoa. He measured the pre-caudal length at 194cm (PCL). This shark was recaptured a straight-line distance by sea of 470km away from its tag and release location in Tauranga and is the second bronze whaler shark we’ve seen move from the Bay of Plenty to Rangiputa.
For more information visit https://tindaleresearch.org.nz

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