Few would glance twice at a lone swimmer making his way down the New Zealand coastline and consider him a threat. Yet that is precisely the situation that has emerged, with Live Ocean confirming that Jono Ridler is facing threats to his personal safety, along with active attempts to physically prevent him from completing the final leg of his swim to Te-Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
"We are continuing to prioritise Jono's safety and getting him to Wellington over the next few days," Live Ocean said, "and are pushing towards the completion of this haerenga with determination."
The threats are understood to have originated in a commercial fishing Facebook group, where a post urged fishermen to intervene and stop Jono from reaching the capital. The One Ocean Project responded by sharing a screenshot publicly and making their position unmistakably clear.
"Do not attempt to interfere or blockade Live Ocean from reaching Wellington this week," they wrote. "Threatening Jono like this does nothing to your image and further pits you against the public."
Police have since been notified. The One Ocean Project also pointed to the particularly unfortunate timing of the threats. Their team had spent the week in direct conversation with commercial fishermen, working to establish an open forum where both sides might find some common ground, and the threats have done real damage to that effort. "We feel sorry for the genuine good commercial fishermen out there, whose images you are ruining," the group added.
The episode sits against a backdrop of heightened tension in New Zealand's fisheries politics. Just days ago, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones was forced to pull a controversial clause from his Fisheries Amendment Bill. The clause would have permitted commercial operators to catch and sell undersized snapper and tarakihi, fish that had not yet reached spawning maturity. Public opposition was fierce, and the clause was withdrawn within days. For parts of the commercial sector, that retreat is still raw, and the Facebook post made little effort to conceal the link between Jono's swim and that political defeat, framing his imminent arrival in Wellington as another symbolic victory for the opposing side.
The closing remark from the One Ocean Project, a public question asking who the "Minister of Seafood" is, carried a deliberate edge. Shane Jones holds the portfolio of Oceans and Fisheries. That title implies a responsibility to the health of the ocean and its fish stocks, not a mandate to advocate on behalf of the commercial seafood industry.
Swim4TheOcean is supported by Live Ocean, the marine conservation charity established by champion sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Jono Ridler has logged more than 420 hours in the water across this journey, and is now within days of completing what is shaping up to be the world's longest unassisted staged ocean swim. He has covered 1,350 kilometres to arrive at Wellington's doorstep, and Live Ocean is asking for public support as he pushes through the final stretch.
