Forest and Bird are calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty cray-fishing areas (known as CRA2) to be closed off for three years to allow the species to recover from over-fishing.
"While the Minister of Fisheries is tinkering around the edges of crayfish management, the crayfish population on Auckland's doorstep collapses towards extinction," Forest and Bird Marine Conservation advocate Katrina Goddard said.
Currently, there is a limit of six crayfish per day for recreational fishers but with so little available, Ms Goddard says there is no point in even reducing that number and that the area should just be closed off.
"Similarly, when the commercial crayfish quota was reduced early in 2018, the quota wasn't able to be caught. The crayfish just aren't there," says Ms Goddard.
Ms Goddard says the crayfish in the area have been over-fished to almost nothing.
Forest & Bird says recreational fishers, iwi, and scientists have been warning of the crayfish collapse for many years, to little effect.
"The Minister and New Zealand First need to stand up to the commercial fishing industry, and get serious about whether New Zealanders will have a healthy Hauraki Gulf ecosystem with crayfish in future years," Ms Goddard said.
"At this rate, they won't."
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