Diving, Seafood and Sustainability

Overview

Students investigate recreational diving and seafood gathering in Aotearoa New Zealand as a relationship between people, places, resources, and rules. They analyse a realistic coastal scenario, apply current recreational fishing regulations, and make a justified decision about sustainable use.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• explain why people recreationally dive and gather seafood in New Zealand
• identify how location, species, size, quantity, season, and method affect what can be legally collected
• analyse how rules balance access, environmental protection, safety, and fairness
• use evidence to recommend a responsible course of action.

Success criteria

I can:

• distinguish recreational seafood gathering from commercial fishing and customary harvest
• use a regional rules extract to decide whether a proposed activity is permitted
• explain at least two reasons for regulations
• justify a decision using evidence about sustainability, safety, and community interests.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences — changing places and how societies function and change in Years 9–10
• Social Sciences — analysing data and sources, making decisions, and evaluating significant challenges
• Geography — human activity at the coast, including recreational and fishing activities
• Social Sciences — higher-order concepts including ethics, inequality, power, and sustainability.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Hook: Who owns the coast? Teacher opens with the provocative hook and coastal image showing a diver, a rocky shore, and gathered seafood, then asks: “If seafood is in the sea, should anyone be allowed to take it?” Students make an initial individual judgement, then compare responses with a partner.

2. 7–17 min · Build shared knowledge. Teacher uses the key concepts and rules overview to clarify recreational diving, recreational fishing, seafood gathering, commercial fishing, customary harvest, marine reserves, and rāhui. Explain that rules can vary by region and species, and that the current official regional rules must always be checked before collecting seafood. Students create a four-column note grid: activity, possible benefit, possible impact, and rule or responsibility.

3. 17–27 min · Read the rules. Teacher distributes the recreational seafood rules investigation and displays the regulation categories and worked example. Model how to check the relevant region, species, minimum legal size, daily bag limit, closed season or area, permitted method, and marine reserve status without relying on memory. Students highlight evidence in a supplied rules extract and answer the first three questions independently.

4. 27–42 min · Scenario investigation. Teacher places students in five groups of four and assigns each group a coastal scenario from the worksheet, such as collecting shellfish on a beach, diving for crayfish, gathering pāua, or finding a closed area. Students use the rules extract to decide whether the activity is allowed, identify missing information, and record the likely environmental and social consequences. Each group prepares a two-minute recommendation: proceed, modify the plan, or do not proceed.

5. 42–53 min · Evidence-based hui. Teacher facilitates group reports using the scenario decision prompts: “Who benefits?”, “Who could be disadvantaged?”, “What power do regulators and communities have?”, and “Is legal always the same as responsible?” Students listen for similarities and differences, challenge one claim respectfully, and add one piece of evidence to their worksheet.

6. 53–60 min · Individual decision and exit check. Teacher returns to the hook image with the reflection and exit question. Students complete the final worksheet response: “A responsible recreational diver should…” including one rule, one reason for it, and one action that protects the coastal environment. Invite two or three students to share before collecting responses.

Resources

• the recreational diving and seafood gathering slide deck
• the recreational seafood rules investigation
• Current regional recreational fishing rules extract, prepared by the teacher
• Projector or interactive display
• Five printed coastal scenario cards, cut from the worksheet
• Highlighters and pens
• Board or shared digital workspace
• Map of the local coastline or rohe
• First-aid kit and classroom safety equipment

Assessment

• Listen to partner talk and check whether students can distinguish recreational, commercial, and customary activities.
• During group work, question students about which evidence supports their decision and whether they have checked region, species, size, quantity, method, and location.
• Assess the final response for a correct or appropriately cautious use of a rule, an explanation of its purpose, and a justified responsible action.

Differentiation

• Provide a partially completed rules checklist, highlighted key words, and sentence starters such as “This activity is permitted only if…” and “This rule matters because…”.
• Pair students strategically and provide an audio or teacher-read version of the rules extract for students who need reading support.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach terms with images: recreational, commercial, customary, limit, size, closed area, marine reserve, sustainability, and rāhui.
• Extend confident students by asking them to compare two stakeholder perspectives and explain a tension between individual freedom, customary interests, public access, and ecological protection.
• Avoid presenting Māori customary practice as simply another recreational activity; acknowledge that tikanga, local knowledge, mana whenua perspectives, and legal frameworks may differ and should be represented respectfully.