71 NZ FISH
One
fish per
Kiwi
Inspired by the classic Fish of New Zealand poster, Dead Fish of NZ is a collection of up to 5.36 million unique fish – one for every New Zealander. Each fish is made of five segments taken from 71 hand-drawn New Zealand commercial fish species, including key targeted and bycatch species. With nearly 2 billion possible combinations, every fish is unique.
01 ／ tail
02 ／ lower body
03 ／ upper body
04 ／ fin
05 ／ headspine ／ tail ／ lower body ／ upper body ／ fin ／ head
Every fish starts as a whole fish, drawn by hand. Each one is cut into five pieces and the pieces are standardised to the same sizes. Then a Python program I wrote picks pieces at random and assembles them into the Dead Fish signature print. Here it's all one yellow-eyed mullet so you can see where each bit goes.
I'll draw you a fish for free, with your shop's name on it.
For years the Fish of New Zealand poster has hung in fish and chip shops all around the country. I'd love to keep that going. Pick a fish your shop actually sells and I'll make a one-off Dead Fish print with your shop's name on it. I'll email you the full-size file to print and hang behind the counter. It's free, and it's yours to display in your shop.
It started as a joke. I had the Fish of New Zealand poster on my wall for years, and one day I drew a fish with the wrong head on it. Then another. Then all 71 of them got cut up. Making one for every Kiwi felt like the right amount of ridiculous.
Yep, completely free. One fish each, and it's yours to keep.
Download the HD image: that's your fish. Your species card also shows your fish code. Get it emailed to you or copy it from the My fish page, then type it into My fish on any phone or computer to bring your fish back. Lose it, and that fish has swum off.
Print it and frame it. I recommend a 50 × 50 cm square print. Any printing service is fine, but I've used Optimalprint, and Framing Online (NZ) has nice wood and glass frames. Amazon has cheaper plastic frames, or just use Blu Tack. Once you've caught your fish, the My fish page has the steps. Or make it your wallpaper and share it.
It's for your own personal use and display: print it, frame it, make it your wallpaper, share it. It can't be sold, put on products, used by a business, turned into an NFT or digital collectible, or used with AI. Full details are in the terms of use. Run a fish and chip shop? I'll make you one for free.
Each of the 71 fish is drawn by hand as a whole fish, then cut into five pieces: tail, lower body, upper body, fin and head. The pieces are standardised to the same sizes, and a Python program picks one of each at random and puts them together in the Dead Fish print style, with a random background.
No. Every fish is drawn by hand, and the code doesn't use AI either. It's a plain Python program that picks pieces at random and lines them up in the same spots every time.
I draw with pixel-based tools rather than vector, because I prefer the style. I know that means it doesn't scale up perfectly, so you may see the pixels when you zoom right in or print really big.
Commercial species are fish caught and sold by New Zealand's fishing industry, like snapper, hoki and orange roughy. Bycatch is anything caught by accident while fishing for something else. Each code on your fish is that species' official fisheries code.
Credit to Terry Wreford Hann for the photographs behind the iconic 71-species poster, and to the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board and illustrator Eric Heath for the original 1977 edition. Also, United Fisheries and Kypros Kotzikas for their own take on the poster, and Fisheries New Zealand for the fishery codes used here.
Acknowledgement to the photographers, fishers and researchers whose photographs and records of less commonly seen species provided valuable reference material.
A note on the odds: Every fish segment has an equal chance of appearing, except the white warehou, which is half as likely. Terry Hann reportedly spent 14 years trying to photograph one. It seemed fitting to make it a little harder to catch.