Hamilton's Seafood Bazaar is known for its good fish and chips

The country's most famous nautical poster has become a staple at fish and chip shops but the man behind the slice of Kiwiana has spent 14 years struggling to complete it, writes Matthew Rosenberg.

Terry Hann has an admission: the iconic New Zealand Seafood poster we've spent more than a decade poring over as we wait for our snapper and fat spuds is missing an important species. For 14 years the white warehou has taunted him.

The A2 poster detailing the country's 80 commercial fish species is as much a part of the greasy end-of-week tradition as ordering one potato fritter and discovering three.

What most people don't realise is the fish on the prints aren't illustrations. They're photographs, taken by 64-year-old Hann who lives in Greytown, one hour north of Wellington.

Hann has been documenting the fish for 14 years but still hasn't managed to capture the elusive white warehou.

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Despite his efforts, which have included multiple trips out on trawler boats, the slippery creature whose Latin name is Seriolella caerulearemains remains the missing piece to his poster puzzle.

"It's my lifelong ambition to get a white warehou," he says. "I really want one."

The white warehou is a cold water fish so in order to get one, Hann reckons he'd have to head south to the sub-Antarctic region on a trawler boat for weeks on end.

He's open to being provided a specimen, but it would have to be in good condition.

Hann is a perfectionist, and he admits that makes life difficult in the fish photography game because most come off trawler boats mutilated.

In those instances he has a few tricks of the trade. Once, he used a bit of polystyrene and some string to open up the fins and tail, Photoshop later removed any hint of the support.

ESTHER BUNNING Behind the almost-alien images of fish out of water is a man who's spent over a decade documenting them with his camera.

"My philosophy was to end up with the best looking species specimens that I could ... the best possible out-of-water shot of a fish."

The work isn't always easy. All his gear was ruined when a large wave dumped on the boat. Another time, puffer fish almost got the better of him.

TERRY HANN Terry Hann photographing a Pink Maomao under LED lighting.

That particular voyage saw the crew haul in a large amount of the spiky fish which were "all puffed up", according to Hann.

Worried they might die, he threw some gloves on and proceeded to throw them over the side of the boat. It wasn't until later he found out the spikes were lethal.

TERRY HANN A view of the ocean from one of Hann's trips out on a fishing trawler.

Over a decade on, his legacy is a poster marking the walls of fish and chip shops nationwide, although exactly how many he's not sure.

Hann estimates there would be thousands around the country, and emphasises the enigmatic warehou makes it an ongoing project.

Changes made over the past decade include the addition of both Latin and Māori fish names.

He's also played with scale to show the comparative size of one fish against another, a marked change from the first poster he released in the early 2000s which looked like "a table of fish".

What's his favourite? It's like picking a favourite child for Hann but the john dory is high up the list.

NIWA The elusive White Warehou has slipped through the net for Hann, but he's hopeful he'll be able to photograph one at some point.

Most of all, he wants to immortalise the ocean dwellers for future generations, especially considering the current state of New Zealand's fisheries.

"Yes [I'm worried], and that's why I wanted to document them. Hopefully once I'm dead and gone, the resource will live on."

Hann's poster is one of two commercial fish posters found in New Zealand, the other from United Fisheries. The poster can be purchased from his website.