The Green Party released an eight-point policy package on 6 July 2026 focused on protecting rivers, drinking water, and oceans. The proposals include changes to fishing methods, drinking water standards, and ocean protection zones.

The most debated proposal is banning bottom trawling, a fishing method where weighted nets are dragged across the seabed, churning up habitat. The Greens also want to phase out two other fishing methods on underwater mountains: set netting (nets left in place to catch fish) and dredging. They would legally protect 30 percent of New Zealand's ocean territory — an international goal the country has already said it supports.

Drinking water: A stricter nitrate limit

The most specific proposal targets drinking water safety. New Zealand currently allows 11.3 mg/L of nitrate in drinking water (a nitrogen-based contaminant). The Greens would lower that to 1.3 mg/L — the same level Denmark is moving toward — according to RNZ. That is about nine times stricter.

Co-leader Marama Davidson cited figures suggesting 100,000 New Zealanders get sick from unsafe drinking water each year. Farming groups say the current limit is safe enough, while health researchers have found links between high nitrate exposure and certain cancers and infant health problems. Using Denmark's standard gives the policy a concrete reference point, though New Zealand's farming, soil, and water systems are different from Denmark's.

The package would also give the water regulator, Taumata Arowai (set up in 2021), stronger enforcement powers. It would make clear in law that wastewater standards are a floor — a minimum — not the highest level to aim for. Better wastewater rules are meant to make rivers, lakes, and coastal waters safe for swimming, a goal that has been national policy but that councils have struggled to achieve.

Fishing: Changing the quota system and iwi involvement

The Greens would also review the Quota Management System, the system that controls how much fish commercial operators can catch. The system has been in place since 1986 and faces periodic calls for change from Māori iwi, small-scale fishers, and conservation groups, though big changes would be difficult because the fishing industry treats its quota rights as settled.

The package commits to supporting kaitiakitanga — Māori stewardship — in ocean management and funding iwi-led conservation work. This reflects a shift in environmental policy toward recognising iwi as active guardians of the environment, not just groups to be consulted. The proposal does not say how this would work with existing agreements with iwi about fishing rights, particularly the 1992 Sealord deal.

One thing not in the policy: unlike 2023, the Greens are not calling for a separate minister of Oceans and Fisheries.

The package is released as an election nears and the Greens are not in government. It sets out eight concrete proposals on water and oceans. It will test how much the wider centre-left supports major rule changes in farming and fishing — two industries that have historically opposed stricter regulation.