Everyone is bad at some point. The cardinal sin, the unforgivable, is to be boring. economist.com/obituary/202...

I really appreciate that this paper neither romanticises nor demonises fishers. It explores our complexities. In tuna fishing across the WCPO (and I assume the world), they are positioned actors within complex systems of power, race, contract, and hierarchy. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/3/...

What has been NZ long standing position is to respect the rules-based order; supporting a unilateral invasion of a country (independent of how bad its government is) without the concerted agreement of the UN is not what NZ has ever stood for.

This is the “problem” for the Recs the five fishers allowed to fish in the two high-protection areas "run small family businesses, they have been fishing in the area for decades, it's really low impact, they have small boats... and their nets are hand set and hauled" www.rnz.co.nz/news/thedeta...

Hey Luxon te all @NZgvt… you billon dollars investment in a LNG gas plant for security is such a safe and dependable choice! Your strategists must be geniuses! Lifting the lakes levels for hydro and incentives for home solar are such politically volatile options 🙄 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I can't fucking believe we're doing this again.

Here we go… it would be the same mess that Iraq was… and Iranians will worst off. Trump told the Iranian people “when we are finished, take over your government.” There is no functioning opposition there, it will be just a everyone against everyone mess www.dw.com/en/trump-say...

So as usual, hype overruns reality… The IMO Cape Town Agreement (CTA) is not a fisheries instrument — and it was never meant to be. But dismissing it is not fair, and leads to missing its deeper structural potential. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

She skippered her own boat until a fall when she was 103 confined her to the mainland, 95 years after she first put to sea with her father. RIP Virginia Oliver economist.com/obituary/202...

Simeon Brown: this is the harm your decisions cause… each of this children has you and the drivers to blame. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/papakura-...

The English never remember… the rest never forget

The fuckwit health minister and his lackeys in Health NZ leadership fired a ton of IT staff and now there are major tech failures every other week. Opposition needs to hammer them on this - it's a direct connection between their bullshit "back office" cost cutting and patient harm.

When John Key sold 1000 state homes, it made headlines & sparked debate Now Chris Bishop has cancelled 3500 builds & selling 900 houses (with land extra) in what's been called a private developers' lolly scramble, it's hardly making a splash How #NZ has changed #nzpol

Been there, than that, didnt work. Don’t we have enough problems as it is that we have to recicle old ones? Just get the basics right so my kids don’t feel like emigrating is their best option! Only 30 years after I migrated for the opportunities my kids leave 😡 www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

No comment needed, facts are enough aje.news/nre8gq

I’ll be happy to agree to a ban of trawl in the Hauraki Gulf (HG) by declaring most of it a MPA and only allowing motorised recreational fishing in the present trawl corridors. If most of the HG is a no take zone for any kind of fishing, only then we have restoration www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Tuna, the most migratory of fish, has borne witness to a century of industrial and political change. The journey from ocean to supermarket shelf is anything but simple. And that is precisely why history matters. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

Marshall Islands has been my 2nd home for the last 8 years, yet I would never expected to be the place for a-world-first universal basic income (UBI) scheme… will follow with interest how society in general reacts to this very unique policy www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...

The Green Party is imploring the Government to choose actual solutions to homelessness, after Ministers today announced the Government’s plan to effectively criminalise it. www.greens.org.nz/luxon_choose...

Flagging fishing vessels on Open Registries (Flag of Convenience) is a small example of the absolute criminal world of vessel registrations. One that uses really dodgy people in the government and commercial side of the process. Here is just a small example www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/02...

Getting shown up in the arena of elite impunity by *the British monarchy* is an incredible “America at 250!” achievement

My Xmas present is ready. Beautiful print by my wife @vibeke.bsky.social based on one print we seen in Japan last year. Fish (and my wife) make me happy 😊

Uncertainty alone, however, is a poor reason not to act. New Zealand has spent decades making relatively little progress on climate adaptation. newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/18/c...

I was a honor guest in a Afghani wedding with Helen Clark, she was great company, I also spend totally by chance new years 90-91 with Frida (the brunette of ABBA) and her kids on a exclusive cruising ship in Antartica , and also was a attache for 1 day to Brazil’s Lula da Silva at a UN meeting

RIP Jesse Jackson. Your message then, resonates today.

RIP Robert Duval. You did classics

Spotted in a Auckland corner

While I’m pleased to see our WCPO fishery remains sustainable in terms of stocks, our IUU fishing estimates are among the lowest globally, and as labour issues are slowly addressed... Once again, I feel like I'm watching a slow-motion train crash. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

Households don’t use LNG. Industry uses LNG. Specifically, people like Fonterra. Specifically in winter, doing things like drying out milk powder. They need huge amounts of energy from the grid for this process, and that’s why there’s a general shortage come Augusy. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Happy to have provided the pictures and some technical editing to my friend Bubba’s excellent Op Ed. I know a tuna industry without fisherman’s exploitation is possible, and I’m working towards that. news.mongabay.com/2026/02/sust...

To call the government’s idea of an LNG terminal a stupid idea is an insult to actual real life stupid ideas. It makes zero economic sense now, and it will make even less economic sense every year hereafter

All this means that an LNG terminal is - surprise surprise - an insanely stupid idea in both pure economic and energy economic terms, even before we go anywhere near the emissions disaster that is fossil fuels

Not much or security strategist my self. But energy “import” does not sound as secure as energy “self reliance”. And if security is the objective LNG transport vessels are the most dangerous and exposed craft in the world, basically undefended floating mega bombs 🤔 www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/...

This Tahiti workshop focuses on practical alignment rather than theoretical commitments. From design and deployment to loss, stranding, and recovery, they want to bring together everyone in the Pacific dFAD fishery for a responsible and sustainable fishery. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

In 2024, ACC helped people recover from more than 31,000 cycling-related injuries across New Zealand. It cost $115 million to help people recover from these injuries. Research shows car drivers are at fault in 90% of accidents at urban intersections. www.acc.co.nz/newsroom/sto...

I see my friends and colleagues in the Pacific working REALLY hard… doing a great job managing their fisheries… yet the whole setup is that their efforts are not to be believed unless “certified” by private organisations from rich colonial countries. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

Perfect way to start a long solo swim… for me, enjoying the ocean is best with no ulterior reason and no motorised support at all

Luxon says hes been meeting iwi up n down the country lets see his track record Ratana 2026 ❌️ Ratana 2025 ❌️ Waitangi day 2026 ❌️ Waitangi day 2025❌️ Maori king tangi ❌️ Maori queen coronation❌️ Last interview with moana 2023❌️ Last interview mihi forbes 2023❌️

The main issue I have with Distant Water Fishing Nations (and their subsidies) is that they blur the boundary between commercial activity, feeding people, and geopolitics, and, in general, the consequences are borne by others. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

Interesting case, even if RNZ is sensationalising the headline, Cooks is acting in accordance to UNCLOS, and at cost for sure as the Aviatu wharf is small. Togo is a very dodgy flag state… I think that vessel will become a bit of a logistical nightmare there www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...

U.S. Territories Under Colonial Rule: Taxed Without Representation, Denied Self-Government, Federal Benefits, and Self-Determination www.justsecurity.org/130478/green...

You can add the Road Cone hotline (150K), the iReX Ferry Project cancellation (approximately $671 million), and the Auckland light rail, which had already incurred millions in planning and preliminary works.

Remote monitoring should be viewed as a component of a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to fisheries management. We can utilise technology effectively, provided we base our analysis on operational knowledge and verify findings with ground-truth sources. www.franciscoblaha.info/blog/2026/2/...

Sorry to say, but the BBNJ Agreement does not specify fisheries management measures, yet it introduces new processes and obligations that intersect with the mandates and operations of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs)

Hope the fire guy doesn’t get in trouble but 🤣🤣🤣🤣😊🤣😊😊😊🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 (watch the fire guy at the end)

Nevermind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college: Physical Oceanography Ecological Biochemistry Evolution Fishing gears Food Antropology

Not a bad morning to go rowing

Home

Imagine being a citizen from an officially bilingual (tri-lingual in fact) country and objecting to people speaking their language (as well as yours) based on the fact you don't understand them while they understand you,and then blaming them for not being inclusive 🤯 www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Six jobs I've had: - newspaper delivery boy - wool clasifier - fisherman - search & rescue swimmer - DJ/VJ -fisheries scientist