Source: Radio New Zealand
The blobfish, which was declared the world’s ugliest animal in 2013, beat the odds to win the competition last year. Bhakti Patel
Voting for Fish of the Year opens on Saturday.
The competition run by the Mountain to Sea Conservation Trust celebrates New Zealand’s weird, wonderful, and often overlooked marine life.
Much like the well known Bird of the Year, the competition spotlights native species and raises awareness about their conservation status.
“People might not realise that so many of our fish in New Zealand are actually endemic, which means they’re found only in New Zealand waters,” said co-director of the conservation trust Samara Nicholas.
Last year the blobfish, which back in 2013 was declared the world’s ugliest animal, beat the odds to win the competition.
The blobfish was not a contender this year, but there were plenty of other fish in the sea.
An orange roughy. Mountains to Sea
“There’s some really interesting deep water fish like orange roughy to some of our highly threatened banded kōkopu for example,” said Nicholas.
“Then some really weird and interesting fish all in between, like the sunfish, which is the heaviest fish in the world, and the torrentfish, which is really well adapted to living in rivers where there’s high water flow.
“So it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the fish that call New Zealand home and to get engaged and excited and try and make your favourite fish win.”
Voting runs from Saturday 28 February – Sunday 15 March.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
