Terms of use

Terms and disclaimer

Last updated 4 September 2026.

This wording has not yet been reviewed by a New Zealand lawyer. It is a working draft.

Catch Log is not a defence

Most offences under the Fisheries Act 1996 and its regulations do not require anyone to prove you meant to commit them. Fishing in a closed area is an offence whether or not you knew the area was closed, and whether or not a piece of software told you otherwise. Relying on Catch Log is not a defence recognised by that Act, the Marine Reserves Act 1971, the Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978, or any other enactment.

The consequences of getting it wrong fall on you and can include fines, forfeiture of catch, gear and vessel, and loss of a permit or licence. Treat Catch Log as one check among several, never as the only one.

What we do, and where it falls short

We take reasonable care. The map is rebuilt daily from the published sources, every answer carries the date the rules were built, and a rule we cannot read confidently is treated as closed rather than open. Even so, all of the following are true:

• Areas may be missing. A closure that exists in law may not appear here, because a source has not published it, because we have not ingested it yet, or because we have misread it. We do not represent that the closures in Catch Log are complete.
• Boundaries are approximate. Every boundary here is a simplification of an area described in words in an instrument. The legal boundary is the one in the instrument, not the one drawn on this map. Near an edge, assume you are inside it.
• Rules change before we hear about them. Closures are made, amended and revoked by regulation, fishery notice and gazette notice. There is always a delay between a change taking effect and it reaching this app.
• Your position is approximate. GPS drifts, and by more than you would think in a steel hull or under a cliff. A position shown outside a closed area may be inside it.
• We answer about place only. Catch Log carries no bag limits, size limits, seasons, permit conditions, quota, reporting duties, gear rules or vessel rules. An "open" answer clears the location and nothing else.

Not for navigation

Catch Log is not a navigational aid and must not be used for navigation. The charts and depth contours in it are for orientation only, and are not a substitute for official nautical charts or a proper plotter.

Where the data comes from

Closure data is derived from datasets published by the Ministry for Primary Industries (Manatū Ahu Matua), the Department of Conservation (Te Papa Atawhai) and Land Information New Zealand (Toitū Te Whenua).

Those agencies publish their data as a general reference only. MPI states that its data is not guaranteed to be accurate, is not to be used for navigational purposes, and that while all reasonable measures have been taken to ensure its accuracy MPI gives no warranty as to its accuracy, completeness, reliability or fitness for purpose, and accepts no liability for any loss, damage or other costs relating to any person's use of it, including in derived works such as Catch Log. Those limits apply to the data inside this app as much as to the data on their own sites.

The authoritative sources are the instruments themselves. Current versions are published at legislation.govt.nz and in the New Zealand Gazette. Where Catch Log and an instrument disagree, the instrument is right and Catch Log is wrong.

Check before you fish

Before you work an area, check it independently against Fisheries New Zealand's own published rules, the conditions on your permit, and where relevant your licensed fish receiver or industry body. If Catch Log disagrees with any of them, do not fish, and tell us.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent the law allows, Catch Log is provided "as is" and "as available". We give no warranty or representation, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, currency, reliability or fitness for any purpose of Catch Log or of the data in it.

We are not liable for any loss, damage, cost, fine, penalty, forfeiture, conviction, loss of permit, licence or quota, loss of catch, loss of profit, or any indirect or consequential loss, arising out of your use of Catch Log or your reliance on anything in it. That includes, specifically, the case where an area was closed and Catch Log did not show it as closed.

If you use Catch Log in trade

Commercial fishing and commercial diving are use in trade. If you use Catch Log for the purposes of a business, then you agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply to that supply, and that sections 9, 12A and 13 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 do not apply to it. You confirm that you are acquiring Catch Log for the purposes of a business and that it is fair and reasonable for those Acts to be excluded. Our total liability to you on any claim is limited to the total amount you have paid us for Fish Log in the twelve months before the claim arose.

If you are a consumer

If you use Catch Log as a consumer, nothing on this page limits or excludes any right you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986 that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.

Telling us about a gap

If you find a closure that is missing, wrong, or out of date, please tell us so we can look at it. Email admin@catchlog.co.nz with roughly where it is and what you expected to see. Reporting something does not transfer responsibility for it to us, and we do not undertake to correct it within any particular time.

Changes to these terms

We may change this page. The date at the top is when it last changed. Continuing to use Catch Log after a change means you accept the version then published.

Governing law

These terms are governed by New Zealand law, and the New Zealand courts have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute about them.