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How
we conserve our fisheries
Preview
Fisheries are
a renewable resource, but they are limited. This means the total
catch needs to be controlled or we could strip the sea of fish.
We also have to preserve the biodiversity of the marine environment
and protect marine ecosystems. This Fact Sheet shows how the management
of fisheries needs to balance resource use with conservation.
The
basics of management
All fisheries
management systems have three basic components:
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research |
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a process
for access or allocation |
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enforcement. |
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 Fisheries
research provides the information needed to determine how many fish
can be safely taken and how they should be taken to sustain the resource
and protect the environment.
Access or allocation
determines who may catch fish, how many, where and under what conditions.
Enforcement
aims to ensure fishers obey the conservation and access/allocation
rules.
The
Government's role
New Zealand's
fisheries are a valuable national asset. They include the Territorial
Sea (from the coastline out to 12 nautical miles) and Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) (from 12 to 200 nautical miles). The Government's
job is to manage our fisheries so that our use of the resource doesn't
ruin it for the future.
As well as
making sure that our fisheries are managed on a sustainable basis,
Government must also balance competing claims to the resource. Everyone
using the resource has a responsibility to follow the rules and
use the fisheries wisely.
Government
sets the rules to ensure sustainable use of fisheries, usually after
talking with the interested parties, and then tries to make sure
that everybody complies. The Government can act as referee when
it comes to balancing competing claims, but only where the resource
users are unable to agree on a way to share the resources.
What
the Ministry of Fisheries does
The Ministry
of Fisheries (MFish) has one purpose - to ensure that the use of
New Zealand's fisheries resource is sustainable. MFish's main activities
are: providing fisheries policy advice; ensuring compliance with
fisheries laws; ensuring that services necessary for fisheries management
are delivered; and providing information on our major fisheries
through an observer programme.
Fisheries
policy
MFish provides advice to support the Minister of Fisheries and the
Government in the development of the policies, legislation and regulations
affecting fisheries.
When developing
advice, MFish gathers as much information as possible and consults
widely. It takes into account the Treaty of Waitangi, international
legal conventions, research information and the views of groups
such as commercial fishers, recreational fishers, conservationists
and Maori.
Fisheries
compliance
 Fisheries
Compliance is the group within the Ministry responsible for ensuring
that people keep within the fisheries laws. This involve monitoring
the activities of legitimate commercial fishers, as well as detecting
and prosecuting poachers and black marketeers, and education, especially
of recreational fishers, to make sure that the rules are known and
understood.
Service
delivery
MFish's Service Delivery team makes the decisions about which organisations
will be used to help MFish in its role of managing fisheries.
For example,
research services are purchased from various research organisations
including the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
(NIWA).
Services required
to collect information about fishing, the impacts of fishing and
fish processing, as well as to run permitting and catch information
systems are also purchased.
MFish observer
programme
The MFish Observer Programme keeps a check on commercial fishers
and provides a catch sampling service for research on the main quota
species. It also monitors the by-catch of marine mammals and seabirds,
supervises the dumping of damaged or small fish, and the unloading
of fish products at sea or in port.
The
Quota Management System (QMS)
The Quota Management
System (QMS) was introduced in 1986. It controls the total catch,
especially the total amount of commercial catch, from all the main
fish stocks found within New Zealand's Territorial Sea and Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ). It was introduced to:
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prevent
overfishing, which had reached dangerous levels in some inshore
fisheries, such as snapper, and |
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improve
the economic efficiency of the fishing industry. |
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The QMS has
been refined in recent years as a result of experience gained since
its introduction over 15 years ago.
Before the
QMS, there were too many boats chasing too few fish. Our fisheries
were in danger of being wiped out, and commercial fishers were struggling
to make a living.
We are not
the first country to bring in quotas, but we are the first to use
them on such a broad scale in multi-species fisheries. Most countries
manage fisheries by controlling inputs, such as the number of boats,
the size of boats, mesh size of the nets and so on.
Input controls:
Controlling inputs does not necessarily prevent overfishing, because
controls on one input can usually be avoided by substituting another
input. For example, a restriction on the number of rock lobster
pots allowed could be circumvented by using the pots more often;
or a restriction on the size of boats could be over come by using
faster, more powerful boats.
Input controls
can have the effect of impeding the development of more efficient
technology and so make the New Zealand fishing industry less competitive.
Output controls:
The Quota Management System (QMS)
MFish's Quota Management System (QMS) is based on controlling outputs,
and is designed to ensure sustainable use of the fisheries resources
while allowing economic efficiency in the industry. The QMS approach
is to directly limit the total quantity of fish taken. The major
focus is on the amount taken by the commercial fishing industry
so that there are sufficient fish available for non-commercial uses
and for the conservation of the resource. (The needs of recreational
fishers and Maori interests are allowed for before commercial quota
levels are set.)
Within the
commercial catch limit, access is determined by ownership of quota
and Annual Allowable Catch (ACE). Quota is a right which allows
people to own a share of the Total Allowable Catch (TACC) for a
particular species in a defined area. Quota can be bought or sold.
ACE is generated in proportion to the amount of quota owned by a
person at the start of each fishing year. It is the right to harvest
a particular species in a defined area. ACE "disappears"
at the end of each fishing year.
The QMS is
also being used in dealing with Maori claims to commercial fisheries.
The Government has purchased quota and transferred it to the Treaty
of Waitangi Fisheries Commission in recognition of Maori rights
to the commercial fishery. The Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission
will distribute quota to iwi. For species brought into the QMS now,
20 percent of commercial quotas are given to the Treaty of Waitangi
Fisheries Commission to distribute.
How the
Quota Management System works
Each year the Government must set a catch limit for each fish species,
based on advice provided by MFish. This advice typically includes
a summary of fishery research information, the views of interested
groups (both commercial and non-commercial) and independent comment
from MFish on management issues and options. For some species such
as rock lobster, special management groups have been set up to advise
the Minister of Fisheries.
Scientists
provide biological data, such as the size of the resource and its
productivity, using the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY)
to work out safe fishing levels. For each fish stock, the MSY is
the largest yield (annual catch) that can be taken, and still maintain
the stock's productive capacity. It takes into regard the population
dynamics of the particular stock, and any environmental factors
that influence the stock. For some species, the impact of the fishing
on other species is also important.
The quantity
of fish that can be taken for each fish stock by both commercial
and recreational fishers is known as the Total Allowable Catch (TAC).
From the TAC an allowance is made to provide for recreational fishing
and customary Maori uses. The remainder is available to the commercial
sector as the Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC). This is the
total quantity of each fish stock that the commercial fishing industry
can catch that year.
Individual
Transferable Quota
The Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) for each fishery comprises
individual transferable quotas (ITQs). These give commercial fishers
the right to own a defined amount of the TACC in a defined area.
Quota holders can either keep ownership of their quota or sell it
to another person. Until 1 October 2001 quota owners could also
lease quota but new legislation does not allow for leasing of quota.
As mentioned above, a formula allows for the creation of Annual
Catch Entitlements (ACE) at the start of each fishing year which
is now the right that allows people to harvest fish. This ACE lasts
for one fishing year and can be bought and sold at anytime during
the fishing year it relates to.
When the QMS
was introduced in 1986, provisional quotas were allocated to fishers
in proportion to their catch history. To reduce the provisional
quotas, so that the total quota issued equalled the desired Total
Allowable Commercial Catch for each fish stock, the Government had
to buy up provisional quotas from commercial fishers by a tender
system.
Initially,
quotas were issued as a tonnage, but in 1990 the Government moved
to proportional quotas. Quotas are now a percentage of the TACC
for each species and not a fixed tonnage. Before 1990, if the TACC
went down, the Government had to buy back quota from fishers, or
conversely if the TACC increased the Government sold quota. Now
fishers carry the cost of reductions because if the TACC is reduced
their individual quota holdings are proportionately reduced. On
the other hand, if the TACC is increased they don't have to pay
for the extra quota they receive.
People with
ITQs do not own the fish in the sea. ITQs give them the right to
own a share of the TACC and ACE gives a commercial fisher the right
to harvest fish in any one fishing year. Because their rights are
secure and tradeable, fishers can make long-term plans. They can
spread their catch throughout the year and decide when to catch
"their" fish. They can also fine tune their quota. For example,
if they find they're catching fish they don't have ACE for (by-catch),
they can buy ACE to cover the catch. On the other hand, if they're
not catching their full ACE for a species, they can sell some of
it. A new Fisheries Act passed in 1996 strengthens the rights of
commercial fishers and more clearly separates
the ownership right from the harvesting right.
There are many
incentives for this trading to occur as there are penalties associated
with overfishing stocks that the fisher does not have ACE to cover.
Other management
tools
Regulations cover both commercial and recreational fishers
to protect fish stocks and the environment. For example, these may
restrict the use of nets or close areas. These restrictions may
be used to help support the QMS where there is a need for specific
rules to protect a fish species.
Permitting
 All
commercial fishers must have a fishing permit to fish any species
including those not managed under the Quota Management System (QMS).
These non-QMS commercial species, for example tuna, may be controlled
by rules listed on their permit. Permits are issued to allow fishers
to take certain species by defined methods.
Closed areas
Some areas are closed to all fishing to protect juvenile fish and
local reef species. Others are closed to certain commercial bulk
fishing methods. For example, areas along the west coast of the
North Island are closed to commercial trawling to minimise the catch
of juvenile snapper which inhabit shallow water. Other areas are
closed to commercial fishing to avoid localised depletion of fisheries
and reduce conflict with recreational fishers.
Closed
seasons
Some areas are closed for a specific time to protect the fish stocks
by reducing the opportunities people have to fish them. Some areas
are closed to protect the fisheries during the breeding period.
In other cases, eg, scallops, the fisheries are opened during the
breeding season to allow people to harvest them when they are in
peak condition.
Size limits
Size limits are imposed to protect fish stocks. By only being able
to take the larger fish, the juvenile fish are given the chance
to breed at least once before they can be caught. If too many young
fish are taken, fish numbers may decline. For example, the minimum
legal size(MLS) for snapper caught by recreational fishers in the
North Island is 27cm, while it is only 25cm for commercial fishers.
 Gear
restrictions
Gear restrictions are usually imposed to protect young fish, for
example, limiting net size and net mesh size. Net placement can
also be restricted, for example, it is not legal to set a flounder
or mullet net right across a waterway.
Marine reserves
Marine reserves are established to preserve areas for scientific
study of marine life. They are administered by the Department of
Conservation. All fishing is usually prohibited in marine reserves.
They are not an effective means of allocating fishery resources
between competing users such as recreational, commercial or Maori
interests.
Taiapure
Taiapure are local fishery areas, in estuarine or shoreline coastal
waters, which have customarily been of special significance to local
iwi or hapu as a source of seafood or for spiritual or cultural
reasons. They are intended to give Maori a greater say in the management
of traditionally important local fishery areas. They do this by
providing a system for the local community to advise the Minister
of Fisheries on regulations to control fishing within a defined
area.
Mataitai
reserves
Mataitai reserves are discrete areas of traditional importance to
Maori where the tangata whenua are authorised by the Minister of
Fisheries to manage and control the harvest of seafoods for non-commercial
purposes. A committee, nominated by the local Maori community can
manage this area by passing by-laws. Controls on non-commercial
fishing within mataitai reserves must apply equally to all people
with only one exception: if a reserve is closed for general harvesting,
the mataitai management committee may approve the taking of seafood
to meet the needs of events on the marae which manages the reserve.
Recreational
fishing
 Recreational
fishing is not directly governed by the Quota Management System.
The Government estimates how much fish will be taken by recreational
fishers before setting the Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC),
but individual recreational fishers do not need ACE to go fishing.
Instead, recreational
fishing is controlled mainly through bag limits, restricting the
number of fish recreational fishers may catch, and size limits -
under-sized fish must be thrown back.
Information
is collected from recreational fishers through surveys and diary
keeping, to help estimate how much and what species of fish they
catch.
Your
role
You too can
help conserve our fisheries. It's easy to think that taking one
or two undersized fish or stocking up your freezer is not going
to make any difference, but if everyone behaves like that, it does
have an impact on fish stocks. It's like a "locust effect". The
fishing efforts of many recreational fishers can easily deplete
fish stocks. Undersized fish or fish in excess of your limit must
be returned to the sea alive and unharmed.
For more information
click on any link below.
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Fisheries
research provides the information needed to determine how many fish
can be safely taken and how they should be taken to sustain the resource
and protect the environment.
