56 Years Underwater What NZ's Oceans Need This Election Darren Shields, 6x NZ Spearfishing Champ

Darren Shields has had his head underwater for 56 years. He's a 6x New Zealand spearfishing champion and a former president of Spearfishing New Zealand, has represented NZ around the world, and still holds the NZ spearfishing record for yellowfin tuna. In 2007 he and his wife Alison started Wettie in their garage. It's now a family-run spearfishing and freediving brand out of Albany, with their kids in the business and most of the gear designed in-house.

We sat down inside Wettie HQ for an honest yarn about a life spent in the ocean and how much it has changed. Darren grew up around commercial fishing and worked on cray boats, on trawlers and in fish factories. He remembers schools of 1,000+ kingfish where none were under 30kg, guts at the Mokes packed with big snapper, and tarakihi and John Dory you could count on every dive. He says he barely sees them now, and he explains the "moving baseline" that means new divers never know what's been lost.

In January 2026 Darren filmed a trawler dumping baby snapper, boarfish and porcupine fish in the Hauraki Gulf. The video went viral, made national news, and became part of the public backlash against the Fisheries Amendment Bill, which was shelved until after the election. He doesn't blame the men on the boats, having worked alongside them. His fight is with the system: bulk methods, wasted bycatch, and quota owners who never go near the water. He took the Prime Minister spearfishing to show him what's at stake, and he believes New Zealanders should be fed first.

There's plenty of adventure too: being towed 1.8 nautical miles by a striped marlin, shooting yellowfin through a meatball surrounded by 4m sharks, a mother humpback lifting her calf away from him, and real shark-bite stories from the shop. Plus his warning about shallow water blackout, advice for new spearos, and a message for boaties about dive flags.

With the election on Saturday 7 November, Darren's message is simple: make sure you're enrolled, look past the promises, and vote for whoever has the track record to actually look after our fish.

Tight Lines, Loose Lips.

Find Darren and the Wettie team:
Web: wettie.co.nz
Instagram: @wettie.spearfishing
Facebook: @Wettie.NZ
YouTube: @WettieNZ
TikTok: @wettie.nz

(00:00) [56 Years Underwater] From commercial boats to the NZ team, the "moving baseline" and the reality of shallow water blackout.

(10:00) [Then vs Now] 1,000-strong kingfish schools, the Gulf trawler discard, quota owners, and being towed 1.8nm by a marlin.

(20:00) [Respect the Catch] Filming released fish die, taking the PM spearfishing, the Mokes then and now, and yellowfin in a meatball.

(30:00) [Whales & Sharks] A mother humpback, Shark Eyes, real shark bites, plus getting started and boat safety.

(40:00) [Your Vote & Kiwis Fed First] Look at the track record, take personal responsibility, fix the quota system.

(50:00) [Gear, Advice & Raw Fish] His go-to speargun, advice for new spearos, his bucket list and favourite fish to eat.

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- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/🎣-get-the-net----tight-lines-loose-lips🎣/id1824558692

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🎵 Music Used

✅ Proctor, Topher Mohr & Alex Elena

✅ Satellites, Swello

✅ Momentum, Zplit

✅ Upbeat Funk Happy by Infraction [Copyright Free Music]

✅ "Long Road" by Infraction, licensed via inaudio.org

✅ Source (YouTube Audio Library)

🎥 Production Notes

✅ Shot on: Sony A7iii + Sennheiser Mics

✅ Edited in: Adobe Premiere Pro

✅ Shot, Edited & Produced by Nick Hoyle