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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 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 harvest 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 ACE. 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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