The Green Party released its 'Drink Swim Fish' policy package on 6 July 2026, setting out eight separate interventions on freshwater quality, marine fishing methods, and ocean protection.

The most contested proposal is a ban on bottom trawling — a fishing method where weighted nets are dragged across the seabed. The package would also phase out set netting and dredging on seamounts (underwater mountains). Bottom trawling in particular tears up seabed habitat across large areas, and calls for its restriction have circulated through successive governments without gaining traction. The Greens would also legally protect 30 percent of New Zealand's ocean territory under the "30x30" marine protection target, which aligns with international biodiversity commitments New Zealand has already endorsed in principle.

Freshwater: Setting a nitrate threshold

The most precise proposal concerns drinking water safety. New Zealand's current nitrate standard allows 11.3 mg/L NO₃-N (a measure of nitrogen from nitrates). Co-leader Marama Davidson said the party would lower that to 1.3 mg/L NO₃-N — the level Denmark has committed to adopting — according to RNZ. That is a reduction by a factor of nine.

Davidson cited figures suggesting up to 100,000 New Zealanders become ill from unsafe drinking water each year. The nitrate standard has been a source of tension in farming and public health debates: farming groups argue the current limit is already cautious enough, while health researchers have found links between higher nitrate exposure and certain cancers and risks to infant health. Anchoring a target to Denmark's level provides a concrete international reference point, though Denmark's soil types, farming systems, and water infrastructure differ significantly from New Zealand's.

The package would expand the enforcement powers of Taumata Arowai, the water regulator established in 2021, and would enshrine in law that environmental standards for wastewater are a minimum, not a maximum. Stronger rules on wastewater discharge are framed as essential to making rivers, lakes, and coastal waters safe for swimming — a goal that has been national policy since 2014, but that councils have found difficult to achieve given the cost of upgrading infrastructure and the time required for consent processes.

Fisheries: Reviewing the quota system and iwi stewardship

Beyond the trawling ban, the Greens would review the Quota Management System, the tradeable quota framework that has controlled commercial fishing since 1986. The QMS has periodically faced calls for reform from iwi, small-scale fishers, and environmental groups, though any major overhaul would have to contend with property rights that the fishing industry considers settled law.

The package also commits to supporting kaitiakitanga — the Māori concept of guardianship — in marine management and funding iwi-led conservation and restoration work. This reflects a broader shift in environmental policy toward recognising hapū and iwi as active stewards rather than groups who are simply consulted. The policy document, as reported, does not spell out how this would work alongside existing Treaty settlements in fisheries, particularly the 1992 Sealord deal and its quota arrangements.

One point worth noting: unlike the Greens' 2023 campaign platform, this package does not propose a dedicated minister of Oceans and Fisheries. It is unclear whether that reflects a strategic calculation ahead of coalition talks or a genuine change in priority.

The package arrives with an election approaching and the Greens outside government. As an election commitment, 'Drink Swim Fish' gives the party a comprehensive environmental water platform — eight distinct proposals spanning freshwater and marine domains. It will test how much appetite exists on the centre-left for substantial regulatory change in agriculture and commercial fishing, two sectors that have historically resisted it.