Auckland, 27 October 2026 - On Wednesday 14 October, more than 20 Chinese-speaking fishers packed into Yeehaa Fishing Tackle in Auckland for the first Big Snapper Session. It was run by the Coastguard Chinese Boat Safety Project team.
The session is part of the Coastguard Chinese Boat Safety Project, which shares boating safety knowledge with Chinese-speaking communities in their own language, so they can head out on the water with confidence. Pairing it with snapper fishing was a deliberate way to reach fishers
They came to learn how to catch a snapper, and they left with plenty of boating safety know-how too. Most of the evening was in Mandarin. Boating and fishing experts Captain Michael Wang and MC Isabelle Li took the room through four stages of a fishing trip, such as; where to find snapper and the minimum legal size; getting your boat and crew ready; fishing tips and tackle; looking after your catch and cleaning the boat and ramp etiquette. Sato from Yeehaa closed the evening by offering some excellent snapper fishing tips.
Coastguard’s Community Engagement Manager Nātia Tucker ran an interactive lifejacket game. It used real lifejackets, including a few that wouldn’t do their job on the day, to test what people knew. It got some of the liveliest engagement of the night.
Feedback was very positive. Attendees said they’d learned a lot and would love more events like it. Everyone went home with a goodie bag that included a fish ruler and a snapper lure.
Project team member and content creator Bill Xu filmed the evening.
Watch the highlights below.
