Richard Robinson

1997 – I got my first job at the Daily Telegraph in Napier. Initially it wasn’t my attention to become a press photographer, but was lured by unlimited rolls of film and 24 hour access to a darkroom. Despite being in need of a senior photographer, one of… ift.tt/3bsunrZ

Photographically, I try not to reflect too much on what I have shot in the past, focusing 100% on current assignments is the only way I can move forward creatively. With Covid-19, every active assignment I’m working on is on hold or cancelled for the for… ift.tt/2xmvvyG

Fallen from Grace - These delicate, dismembered wings of a fairy tern were collected at Mangawhai Spit in December 1979 and stored in the collection of Auckland Museum. The bird’s scientific name, Sterna nereis, references the Nereids, 50 sea nymphs who … ift.tt/38P6LMu

Fallen from Grace - The rarest bird in New Zealand is the fairy tern,with perhaps  36 adults left in existence. It’s got everything going against it: weather, cats, its own DNA, and the fact that humans love the white-sand beaches where it raises its you… ift.tt/39A7t1u

The Price of Fish -  But Kellian has no quota. Before he even looks at a snapper, he has to lease the right to catch it from someone who does, and it’s not cheap. He’s currently signed up to lease ACE from Sanford, one of the country’s largest fishing co… ift.tt/37xPoPI

The Price of Fish - At first, it was a great career. Adam was making good money crewing on tuna boats—enough to throw $100 notes down at the pub when he came ashore every few weeks. He loved it so much he got a bluefin tattooed on his bicep. By his early… ift.tt/37oRfGo

The Price of Fish -Adam Kellian, 35, grew up flicking sprats out of Leigh Harbour with his bare hands. He was four or five when his father first took him to sea. As a teenager, he took months off school to go tuna-fishing with his dad. He’s never wanted … ift.tt/37oxiQ5

Fishers who lease quota from processors are usually required to sell their fish to them—but because he owns his quota, Karl Warr’s wife Sarah is able to market his fish directly to customers, and can catch about a quarter of what he used to for a better … ift.tt/2QYX9ZM

Fishers who lease quota from processors are usually required to sell their fish to them—but because he owns his quota, Karl Warr’s wife Sarah is able to market his fish directly to customers, and can catch about a quarter of what he used to for a better … ift.tt/30pouHR

Fishers who lease quota from processors are usually required to sell their fish to them—but because he owns his quota, Karl Warr’s wife Sarah is able to market his fish directly to customers, and can catch about a quarter of what he used to for a better … ift.tt/37Oy0XA

Hawke’s Bay trawl fisherman Karl Warr “burned the candle at both ends, worked 90 hour weeks and lived meekly” until he could buy his own quota. That’s given him the freedom to innovate: he’s invented a cage that fits onto the end of a trawl net. He can m… ift.tt/2SW0quh

Hawke’s Bay trawl fisherman Karl Warr “burned the candle at both ends, worked 90 hour weeks and lived meekly” until he could buy his own quota. That’s given him the freedom to innovate: he’s invented a cage that fits onto the end of a trawl net. He can m… ift.tt/36vB1vq

Hawke’s Bay trawl fisherman Karl Warr “burned the candle at both ends, worked 90 hour weeks and lived meekly” until he could buy his own quota. That’s given him the freedom to innovate: he’s invented a cage that fits onto the end of a trawl net. He can m… ift.tt/2Qorwsm

Hawke’s Bay trawl fisherman Karl Warr “burned the candle at both ends, worked 90 hour weeks and lived meekly” until he could buy his own quota. That’s given him the freedom to innovate: he’s invented a cage that fits onto the end of a trawl net. He can m… ift.tt/2QrOter

Mike Holmes has been fishing commercially for eels for 40 years, and works in rivers and hydro lakes around the Waikato region, alongside his dog, Jack. Two species of eel are the only freshwater fish in the quota system. In 2016, due to sustainability c… ift.tt/38NFkUz

Hawke’s Bay independent trawler fisherman John Wheatley used to fish for a company which paid him $2.70 a kilogram for his gurnard. “You had to get as much as you could to survive,” he says.⁠ ⁠Now he’s leasing enough quota to sell his fish direct off… ift.tt/2LShMnP

If you want to make money from fishing in New Zealand, it isn’t necessary to actually go fishing. You just need to buy quota. That’s because the quota management system has shifted the profits of fishing from the skipper on the water to the company holdi… ift.tt/2P8cghp

Are there plenty more fish in the sea? Reports of falling hoki stocks off the West Coast and the near-disappearance of crayfish from the Hauraki Gulf suggest that our ‘best in the world’ fisheries management may not be living up to the hype.⁠ ⁠Three … ift.tt/2Y3LvPv

From Taro to Tourism - In Avatele, Hine Makaia and Bretrick Vakanofiti ply their vaka out through the passage in the reef to fish. While most Niue fishermen ship out in modern aluminium vessels, the pair put food on the table and keep a tradition alive a… ift.tt/2OVOFQS

From Taro to Tourism - Olive Fakamautama Lui walks to church on White Sunday in Hakupu Village. In 2017 Niue caught the attention of the world by announcing its intention to protect 40 percent of this blue estate from fishing and other activities that m… ift.tt/2D9UmFy