This grant supported a project arising from a 2018 ‘Fishackathon’ event, which was part-sponsored by GIFT. The event aimed to generate innovative ideas relating to sustainable fishing, and was organized and facilitated by Graham Harris.

The project idea was to create and test an online platform, that provides a marketplace connecting independent and responsible local fishing companies (who do not use harmful fishing practices such as seabed trawling), with people wanting to buy responsibly caught fish. These companies would be vetted on their fishing practices by non-profit organisations such as LegaSea. The platform also aimed to support the sale of lesser known fish species, to reduce demand on over-harvested species such as snapper, and the discarding of lesser value fish.

Via the platform, fishing companies would register their interest in selling, be vetted in terms of their fishing methods and if approved, can begin to promote their fish to potential buyers online. People interested in buying responsibly sourced, local fish, register their interest as buyers and are notified when fish is available in their area. A small team worked on the project, and the platform created is accessible to view at https://www.nyaf.co.nz/.

Key achievements of the project were:

• Development of a clean, attractive, well designed, easy to use platform, that also works well on mobile devices

• The platform capability achieved the aims of the site, to capture real time fish catch information, be able to promote lesser known fish species and where to buy the fish caught.

Challenges for the project were:

• The website build taking longer than expected, due to technical challenges and the main web builder also working full time

• Challenges related to members of the project team moving overseas

• Lack of strong fishery connections and marketing skills in the team

Having developed a workable platform that met the intended aims, the Not Your Average Fish team is willing to pass over the intellectual property associated with this project, so that another party can implement it.

Foundation North is keen to hear from anyone interested in discussing this opportunity, please contact kim.collins@foundationnorth.org.nz.