Fish of the Year - 2023 Winner Announcement!

Te ika o te tau | Fish of the Year 2023 Winner Announcement

We are super excited to announce the winners of EMR's 2023 Te Ika o Te Tau competition! We had a whopping 2491 entries come in for Fish of the Year - breaking our previous record of 781 in 2022!

Our 2023 winner is the Oceanic Manta Ray! Manta rays have been a clear favourite from the start of the competition, with 661 people voting for manta rays as one of their favourite ika! We are thrilled to see so much love for our graceful ocean giants, which undertake huge voyages throughout our oceans. As marine megafauna, they are ocean sentinels telling us about the environment they live in.

To find out more about Aotearoa's manta rays and spinetail devil rays check out Manta Watch NZ! Manta Watch Aotearoa New Zealand (MWANZ) is a charitable trust that combines dedicated research, education and collaboration to learn more about Aotearoa’s oceanic manta rays. If you see manta rays while out in Aotearoa's waters, please report your sighting (and any photos) to help contribute to important research!

In second place, with 511 votes is our incredible tuna - longfin eel backed by SeaLife Kelly Tarlton's and Kelly Tarlton's Marine Wildlife Trust. There are fewer eels today because of the loss of wetlands and historical commercial overfishing. They are migratory fishes starting their lives in the Pacific Ocean and travelling across the ocean back to New Zealand’s waterways to find suitable adult habitat in lakes and rivers where they live until they are ~25 years, they then undertake their migration back to the sea to spawn/breed and die. You can visit some of our beautiful longfin eels by visiting Kelly Tarlton's newest exhibit - the Sea Cave Adventure!

In third place, with 412 votes is the beautiful manaia - big belly seahorse! Big-bellied seahorses are the only seahorse species found around the New Zealand coastline and are one of the largest species in the world - growing up to 35cm! This seahorse is found among algae, seagrasses, and rocky reefs in shallow water and is attached to sponges and colonial hydroids in deeper areas. Seahorses are voracious feeders, eating mainly crustaceans, such as shrimp, and other small animals living among the seaweed, such as copepods and amphipods. Seahorses were backed by Sustainable Coastlines in 2023. To find out more about how sustainable coastlines is protecting Aotearoa's coastlines, check out their website!

Full leaderboard:

1. Manta ray (Oceanic) - Te Whai Rahi (661 votes)
2. Longfin eels - Tuna (511 votes)
3. Big-bellied seahorse - Manaia (412 votes)
4. Great white shark - Mangō taniwha (407 votes)
5. Basking shark - Reremai (389 votes)
6. Īnanga - Īnanga (274 votes)
7. Blue cod - Rāwaru (233 votes)
8. Crested weedfish - (223 votes)
9. John Dory - Kuparu (207 votes)
10. Lamprey - Piharau/kanakana (206 votes)
11. Yellowfin Kingfish - Haku (205 votes)
12. Shortjaw kōkopu - (197 votes)
13. Snapper - Tāmure (187 votes)
14. Porcupine fish - Kōpūtōtara (186 votes)
15. Blue-eyed triplefin - Ruanoho (177 votes)
16. Black mudfish - Waikaka (151 votes)
16. Flounder - Pātiki tōtara (151 votes)
18. Butterfish - Mararī (138 votes)
18. Goatfish - Āhuruhuru (138 votes)
20. Blue maomao - (127 votes)
21. Yellow Moray Eel - Kaingārā (119 votes)
22. School shark - Tupere (110 votes)
23. Stargazer - Pūwhara (109 votes)
24. Pigfish - Paakurakura (108 votes)
24. Torrentfish - Panoko (108 votes)
26. Redfin bully - (98 votes)
27. Anchovies - Kokowhawha (94 votes)
28. Leatherjacket - Kōkiri (91 votes)
29. Hāpuka - Hāpuka (85 votes)
30. Red Moki - Nanua (84 votes)
31. Black Angelfish - Mata (77 votes)
32. Common bully - Toitoi (72 votes)
33. Spotty - Paketi (69 votes)
34. Scorpion Fish - Matuawhāpuku (64 votes)
35. Common triplefin - Kokopara (59 votes)
36. Sandager’s wrasse - Tāngahangaha (55 votes)
37. Trevally - Araara (52 votes)
38. Rockfish (Olive) - Taumaka (51 votes)
39. Two-spotted demoiselle - (45 votes)

Thank you so much to everyone who voted! The spot prize draw will be drawn early next week, and winners will be contacted directly via email.

PRIZES:

Prize winners will be contacted directly via email, if you do not respond within 5 working days, we will pass on the prize to another entrant so please keep an eye out in your emails! Colouring in competition winners will be contacted directly also, the winning colouring competitions will be shared on our website in coming weeks.

Prizes have been kindly donated by: Wilderlab NZ, SeaLife Kelly Tartlton's, Auckland Zoo, Manta Watch NZ, Goat Island Discovery Center, Northland Regional Council and more!

A huge thank you to our supporters below for supporting the campaign by o-fish-ally backing a fish! You can find out more about these organisations by clicking the link!