Press release: CONTROVER-SEA! Human enters Fish of the Year competition at halfway point

Man re-writes rulebook as longfin eel and whale shark take the lead

An unprecedented late entrant has shaken up New Zealand’s favourite aquatic popularity contest.

Whale shark and longfin eel/tuna are neck and neck, with big-belly seahorse/manaia currently rounding out the top three on the Fish of the Year leaderboard.

However, the registration of ‘honorary fish’ Jono Ridler has left some fellow contenders feeling salty. While ineligible for the overall crown, members of the public can find and vote for Jono at www.fishoftheyear.org.nz as one of their three preferred fish species.

Ridler, supported by Live Ocean, is almost 1000km through his 1400km quest to swim the length of the North Island. 

While demonstrably lacking gills and scales, Live Ocean contends his unprecedented swim is evidence of ‘fish-like qualities’.

University of Auckland Marine Science Society, backers of the current leader the whale shark, have welcomed the surprise entrant to the race, saying "the arrival of the honorary fish means it’s officially game on."

"Jono's swim is an incredible effort and a powerful way to highlight the impact of bottom trawling in Aotearoa. If he wants to keep up with the current Fish of the Year leader, the whale shark, he's set himself a pretty ambitious challenge. Whale sharks are known to migrate more than 20,000km, so Jono would need to complete his journey nearly 10 times to match that," says spokesperson Jasmin Manning.

Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, organisers of the competition, are cautiously optimistic about the new entrant. “Jono’s swimming skills and his mission to protect our marine environment makes him a worthwhile addition to the field”, says Poutokomanawa (Co-Director) Samara Nicholas.  

“We’d also like to point out that each voter has three votes, so if Kiwis go to fishoftheyear.org.nz, there are a number of other ika that deserve their consideration. We have some remarkable freshwater and marine fish in our waters. I’d strongly encourage New Zealanders to head to the website and vote for their favourite fish…or fish-adjacent human”.

Voting closes at 5pm on March 15th. Previous winners include the pāteke/spotty, and last year’s viral sensation the blobfish.

Current Fish of the Year leaderboard:

ENDS