Beautiful bounty: Kai Ika's lasting legacy

Since its inception in 2022, LegaSea's Kai Ika Project in Wellington has been sharing fish heads, frames and offal that would otherwise have gone to waste, with the community. In its first year, the team repurposed over 5,000gk of rangatira kai (chiefs' food); in 2025, that amount increased to 26,000kg of fish heads and frames shared with local families.

That's enough high-quality protein to create over 15,000 family meals, of 72,000 individual adult meals. 

In total, the Wellington branch of Kai Ika has now shared over 52,000kg of kaimoana, with weekly distributions between 900kg and 1,300kg - a figure they hope to repeat in 2026.

Originally set up in Wellington by LegaSea team member Chris Jupp, Kai Ika began in Auckland in 2016 as a way to try and address the issues of food shortages in the community, and marine sustainability in New Zealand. Fish comes from several avenues, including both recreational and commercial fishers, and the team try to provide filleting services at fishing competitions as a way of making kai more accessible.

"The beauty of this project is seeing the community come together to make it happen - fishers and divers, marae and community groups, councils, local businesses, volunteers, and everyday mums, dads, aunties and uncles," says Jupp. "It's a genuinely collective effort, built on generosity, respect and a shared commitment to the wellbeing of our people and the marine environment."

The Kai Ika project now runs in Auckland, Wellington and Hawke's Bay thanks to a team of volunteers who work together to get more kaimoana to more people.

For more information on the Kai Ika Project, or to get involved, visit the Kai Ika website.