Our fish are sustainably caught through our joint venture relationships.
"It crosses the road between the wharf and our factory where Ngati Porou Fisheries’ production team processes it".
Our retail store Real Fresh Limited orders what they need – mainly tarakihi, hapuku, gurnard, bluenose and moki. The remainder is contract-processed according to the requirements of our joint venture partners and sent from Gisborne to domestic or export markets. One of our big points of difference at Real Fresh is that our fish comes right off the boat into our factory behind our store, so it is the freshest in town.
Scientific name: Pagrus auratus
Length: 30–50cm, reaching 100cm Weight: 1–2.5kg, up to 19kg
Golden-pinky-red flecked with iridescent blue spots above and paling to white on the belly, snapper are a beautiful sight in the ocean and on the plate, and is a taonga species for Ngati Porou.
For many Kiwis snapper is the gold standard for white fish – high protein, low fat, firm succulent texture, slight stickiness on the teeth. Snapper can be cooked whole grilled or fried, smoked, or put into soups or curries. It is beautiful eaten raw as sashimi and uncooked snapper flesh has an attractive iridescence.
Scientific name: Nemadactylus macropterus
Length: 30–40cm Weight: 0.9–2.5kg and up to 6kg.
Tarakihi are silver-grey with a blue-green sheen that shades to silver white on the belly. They also have a stylish black band between the head and the dorsal fin.
People of Ngati Porou love the delicately sweet taste of Tarakihi and it is a staple food – a taonga species – for us because of its abundance in our waters. Tarakihi is a versatile fish and is great whether baked fried curried or in fish & chips.
Up the Coast people want more whole fish – they love heads and bones. In town people tend to prefer fish fillets. Our traditions around eating whole fish are reflected in the way we strive to move fish through our value realisation chain
– we extract as much value from each fish as we can.
Because we are passionate about sustainability our fish is a healthy choice for you and for the ocean.
Scientific name: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Length: 40–100cm Weight: 8–10kg
King salmon are green-tinged silver with black spots above and fade to silver/white below. Salmon is popular throughout the world both fresh and smoked.
Salmon is delicious using most cooking methods and can be served rare or even eaten raw as sashimi. Perfect to sizzle on the barbecue, salmon cooks quickly and is ready to eat when the flesh turns opaque, and flakes easily with a fork. We sell fresh salmon and also include salmon in our Ahia fresh-smoked range because it is so delicious smoked.
Scientific name: Latridopsis ciliaris
Length: 55–70cm Weight: 2–3kg, up to 10kg. Available year-round
Blue Moki have a grey-blue body with broad dark bands across the back and silvery white sides and belly. It is a well-priced and commonly-caught fish enjoyed by many on the East Coast.
Moki has soft white flesh and is beautiful steamed baked or as an ingredient in seafood soups and stews. Sometimes the kelp diet of Moki gives its flesh an olive tint.
Eat it fresh or try our Ahia fresh-smoked moki – it is like bacon of the sea.
Scientific name: Polyprion oxygeneios
Length: 80–100cm, reaching 150cm Weight: 6kg average, up to 20kg or more
Hapuku are an attractive shade of blue when young and turn dark blue-grey or grey-brown and white below as they grow. Arguably one of our finest eating fish, Hapuku has beautiful succulent sticky white flesh in heavy flakes and is often fried in steaks.Hapuku heads are a delicacy for Ngati Porou and a popular item at Real Fresh. Hapuku is delicious baked steamed pan-fried, poached, barbecued or smoked. Hapuku are available year-round, and the catch peaks during the mid-winter spawning season.
Scientific Name: Hyperoglyphe antarctica
Length: 60–100cm, reaching 130cm Weight: 5–6kg, up to 20kg
Bluenose are dark metallic blue-black to grey on the back of the body shading to silver on the sides and belly. It is similar to Hapuku in flavour and texture and like Hapuku is best prepared without strong seasoning so the beautiful subtle flavour can be appreciated.
Bluenose is distinguished from Hapuku/Groper by a blunt snout and laterally compressed body, with large eyes set low in the head.
Scientific name: Chelidonichthys kumu
Length: 20–30cm, reaching 50cm Weight: 0.5–1.4kg, up to 2kg
Gurnard are flamboyant fish – reddish-pink to orange above and white below, with large bluish-green pectoral fins with an inky blue spot and feelers that split of to help catch prey on the ocean floor. Red gurnard has small firm fillets which have a firm texture and sweet taste. Because Gurnard holds its shape during cooking it is great in Thai soups, on the barbecue and in a steamer or casserole. It can also be eaten raw as sushi.