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Commercial fishing boat - Source: ONE News
Greenpeace activists have chained two liferafts together to try to prevent a 45 metre fishing vessel leaving Auckland Harbour.
The protesters are calling on the Foodtown supermarket chain to stop selling orange roughy.
A spokeswoman says police have removed two Greenpeace members who tried to climb aboard the Seamount Explorer which remains tied up at a downtown wharf.
Greenpeace says fishermen on board the 45 metre vessel have turned high pressure hoses two activists who have locked themselves to the structure of the ship.
Greenpeace says the action is part of a campaign to save New Zealand seas from overfishing and destructive fishing practices.
The organisation says supermarkets in North America and Europe which have adopted sustainable seafood policies are taking New Zealand-caught species like orange roughy and hoki off their shelves as it fails to meet sustainability standards.
Last month United Kingdom supermarket Waitrose confirmed it refused to stock New Zealand caught hoki, despite its sustainability accreditation by the Marine Stewardship Council, as it was caught by bottom trawling. It removed New Zealand orange roughy from its stocks in 2005 for the same reason.
