The following are fish that appear in the Wellington area.
GURNARD
The red gurnard looks quite unlike other fishes. The eyes are set high on the large head, the mouth has only small fine teeth, and the body is long, tapering towards the tail. Most notable of all the red gurnard has a bright orange body colouring and distinctive large pectoral fins often called “wings”. These being blue green in colour with a blue fringe, together with a large dark spot within which are smaller white spots.
Gurnard are great fun to catch and their main attraction for anglers is that they are very good eating. Gurnard are one of the best eating fish with firm pink flesh.
SNAPPER
Snapper is one of New Zealand’s most popular sport and table fish. Snapper are found consistently around the entire North Island. Further south, they occur mostly around the upper third of the South Island, straying further south in summer. Snapper are renowned for their brilliant eating quality and are regarded as one of the best eating fish in New Zealand. They have soft white meat and quite a few bones. Fillets can normally be quite chunky (if filleted correctly) and their flesh is delicate in flavour and texture.
TARAKIHI
Tarakihi are schooling fish usually associated with areas of reef and other structure, though they also feed over sand and mud. They are most often caught in clear patches adjacent to foul and reef in water up to 100m-deep. Tarakihi’s versatile, delicious white flesh goes with anything from a strongly sauced or curried dish, to a delicate fillet, to a fish pie or baked delight.
TREVALLY
A deep body and large, powerful fins make trevally a combative species to catch on rod and line. Not only that, trevally are a diverse eating fish. The flesh is firm and reasonably strong in taste making it great for cooking and to eat raw as sashimi. Indeed, many chefs consider trevally the best fish to use for sashimi.
BLUE COD
These fine-eating fish are numerous – and much larger – here in Wellington than further north.
An adult may grow to 60 cm in length and weigh from one to three kg.
They like rough bottom up to 100m deep and are caught quite consistently in Wellington waters.
They are our number one table fish and can be caught all year round.
It is a plump fish which produces good fillets, but it has a very low oil content.
It can be served battered, crumbed, pan-fried or baked.
KAHAWAI
The kahawai is a streamlined inshore pelagic fish that normally ranges in size from 40 to 60cm. However, in the far north of New Zealand exceptionally large specimens are sometimes caught. They are an exciting fish to catch and will leap from the water repeatedly in attempts to throw the hook. It pays to bleed the fish but when cooked fresh, kahawai is delicious. It is also irresistible when smoked fresh.
KINGFISH
An awesome pelagic game fish. Kingfish are easily recognisable by their distinct yellow tails and (dorsal, pectoral, caudal) fins. They are generally dark green in colour,Kingfish are excellent eating fish with thick white fillets; they have a pleasant flavour and only a few large bones. Kingfish have a moderate oiliness to them and they are easily adaptable to a variety of cooking methods. They make excellent sashimi and to cook, are best prepared in foil on the BBQ or baked to retain flavour and to keep the fillets moist.