Forest and Bird says a proposal to cut the commercial catch for tarakihi does not go far enough.
The Fisheries Minister, Stuart Nash, will decide later this year whether to slash the amount of fish that can be caught - at current levels, it's worth $75 million a year.
RNZ understands he favours a reduction of almost a third. Forest and Bird spokesperson Katrina Goddard says tarakihi has almost been fished out of existence.
She told RNZ fisheries reporter Conan Young that cuts to the catch alone have only a 50-50 chance of turning things around.
