Fisheries Management

A series of correspondence between the Minister of Fisheries and the Northland and North Island West Coast fisheries forums about having full observer coverage on all foreign charter vessels fishing in New Zealand waters.

Fisheries Act Amendment Bill

Early in 2007 the Minister of Fisheries proposed amendments to sections 10 (c) and (d) of the Fisheries Act 1996 (the Act) to enable a more precautionary approach to be taken by fisheries managers. Follow the process here.....

Implications of Reallocation: Examples from New Zealand

A fishing industry perspective of allocation decisions and the effect of specific management measures on commercial, customary and amateur fishers. This is a paper presented to the Sharing the Fish Conference, Perth, February 2006.

Adaptive Management Programmes (AMPs)

The clear intent of Adaptive Management Programmes is to fish down the stock fast enough to allow the decline in commercial trawl CPUE to be measured within a certain time period. We fail to see how AMPs address management issues and "allow for" non-commercial fishing interests in our precious inshore shared fisheries.

Allocation Issues

Paper by MFish in response to submissions to the 2005 sustainability round including the option4 submission above discussing the proportional allocation model being adopted by the Ministry.

Aquaculture and Fish Farming

The pressure is on to increase the value of our exports from aquaculture and fin fish farming. This has major implications for the health of our coastal waters. For more information on aquaculture and fin fish farming go here

Fisheries Act 1996

Section 11A of the Fisheries Act 1996 - Fisheries Plans

Fisheries Act Amendment Bill

option4 has written a submission in support of the intention of the Fisheries Act Amendment Bill proposed by the Minister of Fisheries, if it achieves the goal of putting more fish in the water.

Fisheries Management Discussion Document

A summary of the injustices that lie at the heart of effective fisheries management. Until these injustices are acknowledged and resolved it is hard to see a clear way forward. Included are some suggested “pathways out of the maze”. This document was given to the Minister and staff in December 2004. We have no progress to report at this stage.

Fisheries Regulations
The Amateur Fishing Regulations control the activities of the public who fish for food. This public includes Maori when they are not fishing for the purposes of their marae and exercising their very powerful customary fishing rights.

Read more about these regulations and option4's input to any changes to these regulations here » » » » » »

Fisheries Standards

option4 endorsed the New Zealand Big Game Fishing Council's submissions on the Harvest Strategy and Introduction to the QMS Standards produced by MFish.

Graham Kelly Speech to Senate

A bizarre presentation to the Canadian Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans by a representative of our government. So much nonsense on fisheries management

Ministry Brief Minister on Role

The briefing paper given to David Benson-Pope was released a month after he was given the job of Minister of Fisheries.

Moyle's Promise

In 1989 the National Policy for Marine Recreational Fishing was finalised and the Minister of Fisheries, Colin Moyle, issued the following statement that is referred to today as Moyle's Promise,

"Government's position is clear, where a species of fish is not sufficiently abundant to support both commercial and non-commercial fishing, preference will be given to non-commercial fishing"

option4 believe the 1996 rewrite of the Fisheries Act confirmed this priority access. Section 21 clearly states the Minister shall "allow for" non-commercial fishing interests, both recreational and customary, before setting commercial quotas.

Policy and Management Issues

Paper by Ministry written in response to the 2005 submissions to the sustainability round including the review of GMU1, FLA1, kahawai, KIN8 and SNA8. Worth a read.

Process Issues

Written by the Ministry of Fisheries this Process Issues paper is a response to issues raised in submissions by both commercial and non-commercial fishers to the 2005 sustainability round.

MUST READ

Proportional Allocation of NZ Resources

The Ministry of Fisheries is promoting proportional allocations as an equitable way of sharing the pain of rebuilding a fish stock between sectors and sharing the gains, once stocks are rebuilt. This proportional policy MFish currently has seems to be a convenient way to ignore the history of fisheries mismanagement and to avoid compensation issues for the Crown. Read this comprehensive analysis of the current policy preference of MFish compiled by option4. You will have no doubts after reading this document what proportionalism is all about.

Quota Management System (QMS)

An explanation of the QMS, IPPs, correspondence from the Minister and Ministry of Fisheries relating to the QMS and submissions to their proposals.

Shared Fisheries Policy

The Ministry of Fisheries is developing a policy to address long-standing issues of concern over allocation and management in shared fisheries, where both commercial and non-commercial fishers have an interest. option4 will be fully engaged in this process during 2006. More detail here » » » » » »

Statement of Intent

Every year the Ministry of Fisheries issue a Statement of Intent (SOI) setting out the strategic direction of MFish. option4 could not let the 2006-11 document go unchallenged. In June option4 submitted that MFish do not have any intent to meaningfully engage with the public and representative organisations. Full details of the 2006 process here...