Regenerated primary production dominates in a periodically upwelling shelf ecosystem, northeast New Zealand

► We established the main drivers of production in an upwelling shelf in New Zealand. ► Frequent seasonal upwelling events transported deep-water nitrate onto the shelf. ► Despite this, high primary production was mainly supported by regenerated nutrients. ► <20% of C was exported from the euphotic zone, with most fixed C oxidised in situ. ► Chl-a to C uptake, r2=0.01 questions use of chl-a to model production in this area.