Jono Ridler and Live Ocean co-founder Blair Tuke will walk into Parliament tomorrow carrying 73,647 signatures and a single, pointed demand: stop bottom trawling, beginning with the country's seamounts.
A series of meetings with parliamentarians is scheduled for the day, including one with Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Oceans and Fisheries. Northland MP Grant McCallum will formally present the petition to the House on 29 April, at which point it passes automatically to a Select Committee, which will consider it before reporting back to Parliament.
The petition closes the public phase of a campaign built around Ridler's Swim4TheOcean, a 1,367km unassisted staged swim tracing the entire east coast of the North Island from Waikuku Beach at North Cape down to Wellington. Ridler completed that journey on 4 April 2026, having swum over 90 days and arriving at Te Whanganui-a-Tara to a crowd of thousands. The public petition closed at midday today, and the final tally of 73,647 is a fully audited figure.
For Ridler, the next challenge is making sure those names translate into genuine action from those who hold the levers of power. "We've heard from people right along the coast, people who rely on the ocean, who've seen the change in their lifetime, and who want to see it protected. This is about taking those voices to Parliament and asking decision-makers to act."
Tuke described the petition as a practical next step in a longer push. "We're asking for a clear step forward, to end bottom trawling on seamounts and begin the transition away from it entirely. This is an outdated practice that damages ocean ecosystems, and we can do better. As a nation of innovators, this is a change New Zealand is capable of making."
