Ready to dive into this year’s Minecraft challenge? Entries are now open for this year’s INTERFACE Student Minecraft Competition. The closing date is Friday 25 September (the end of Term 3)
We’ve teamed up again with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to bring you an awesome new mission for young builders and big thinkers!
The Challenge: ‘Forever Fisheries – From ocean to plate’
It’s your job to create a Minecraft world that helps New Zealand’s fisheries thrive. From ocean to plate, we want you to secure a better future!
Your world should focus on a specific part of the process. It could:
- Protect fishing habitats
- Catch fish the sustainable way
- Responsibly process and transport seafood
- Use science and research to support sustainable fishing practices
- Serve it up in a restaurant or shop
The possibilities are huge and the choice is yours. Whatever you build, just make sure it’s ocean-friendly! Show us how your world protects and promotes marine life, and uses smart, sustainable practices.
Build your idea in Minecraft, record a fun 3-minute video tour showing off your creation, and send it in!
Supporting information and resources from MSC
The Marine Stewardship Council has prepared teacher information and resources to support competition entry into this year’s competition. These includes:
A short film showcasing the NZ West Coast Albacore Tuna fishery as an example of a sustainable fishery.
Five curriculum aligned teacher lesson plans for the following activities:
- Activity 1: Open Ocean Habitat
- Activity 2: Food chains and food webs
- Activity 3: Sustainable fishing
- Activity 4: Ocean to plate journey
- Activity 5: Reducing fishings environmental impacts
Six takeaways (some a little surprising) about the current state of the world’s fisheries.
Bycatch in a Bucket: Play this simple game in your classroom to gain understanding about how hard it can be to catch your target fish and not bycatch!
Printable cards to help identify ngā ika moana, fishes of Aotearoa New Zealand. Includes supporting activities (including a Kahoot! quiz).
Standards and Certification
Ensure the environment you create is sustainable and using best practices by following the Marine Stewardship Council’s Fisheries Standard (msc.org/standards-and-certification/fisheries-standard). This is used to assess if a fishery is well-managed and sustainable, and reflects the most up-to-date understanding of internationally accepted fisheries science and management.
Expert help and advice
The Marine Stewardship Council’s Rika Milne is available to provide information and advice about the Fisheries Standard and the organisation’s teaching resources. She can be contacted at rika.milne@msc.org
Also, if you are interested in ocean themed teaching resources, sign up to the MSC’s teacher newsletter.
Prizes
Winning entries will receive some awesome prizes, including Minecraft merchanise and John West products.
Entry details
There are three age categories to choose from:
- Primary (Years 1-6);
- Intermediate (Years 7-8); and
- Secondary (Years 9+).
Entries close end of Term 3 (Friday 25 September, 2026). The winners will be announced in our November magazine.
How to enter
STEP 1: Talk through the competition challenge with your student(s). Discuss the guidelines for your ‘Forever Fisheries’ entry and how these aims can be achieved. Research the needs, methods and goals of sustainable fishing. Determine the design and management requirements, and how the entry can be constructed in Minecraft.
STEP 2: Create the entry in Minecraft and complete the entry form. You will need to write a short explanation of your environment and how it meets the requirements, and record a video of the creation (please keep videos to no longer than 3 minutes).
Entries will judged out of 100 points, based on the following criteria:
- Creativity of the environment design (30 points)
- Effectiveness of the design to meet the goals of ‘From Ocean to Plate’ (40pts)
- Appropriate use of materials (15 points)
- Accuracy and neatness of construction (15 points)
All entries require both teacher and student details – incomplete entries will not be accepted. Please submit one form per entry. Entries can be from individuals or groups (up to four students) and must include all students’ full names. You can enter more than once but a separate entry must be made for each.
Access to videos: Please ensure we are able to watch your videos, especially if they are stored on school networks.
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
Thanks to the Marine Stewardship Council for supporting this year’s INTERFACE Student Minecraft Competition.
Big Blue Future New Zealand
Big Blue Future New Zealand is an initiative to build support for sustainable fishing and promote ocean literacy. Learn about ocean literacy with MSC’s Te Kawa O Tangaroa teaching resources – an ocean-centred learning programme focused on solutions to overfishing and how we can keep our ocean teeming with life.
Meet last year’s winners
Check out last year’s winning entries at interfaceonline.co.nz/minecraftresults2025/
PLEASE NOTE: This competition is open only to students at New Zealand schools (including home schooled) and is subject to our terms and conditions (interfaceonline.co.nz/terms-and-conditions/).
DISCLAIMER: We treat all personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
If you have any queries about this year’s competition, please contact INTERFACE Editor Greg Adams at greg.adams@interfacemagazine.co.nz
INTERFACE April 2026
