With summer nearly here locals and visitors to Ōhiwa Harbour are gearing up to set the net for flounder, collect pipi or catch a snapper. It is timely that a local advocate for our ocean’s resources has just been given not one but two major awards.   On 11 September, the winners of the New Zealand Seafood Sustainability and Innovation Awards 2025 were announced at Parliament, recognising the many contributions of fishers, marine farmers, community groups and researchers from

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has adopted new Navigation Safety Bylaws which change the rules for personal watercraft use within Ōhiwa harbour. These new rules came into effect in July. Under the new bylaw, the exclusion zone will be replaced with a 5-knot rule that will apply to all vessels for most parts of the harbour. Powered craft will be allowed across the harbour but all standard bylaws rules will apply, i.e. 5 knots within 200m of shore, 50m of a person or vesse

In January and February 2025 Ōhiwa Harbour was again part of a regular survey that assesses the cockle and pipi populations across 11 northern North Island sites,