Major shake-up of fishing quota system on the way

The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System.

The Oceans and Fisheries Minister also acknowledged there is a "deeper philosophical debate" underneath the consultation document, now open for feedback on the MPI website, because of New Zealand's "unusual fishing management system" due to the property rights based quota system.

Jones made the announcement on the Wellington waterfront alongside a range of industry members, arguing the changes were the broadest and most significant since the quota system was introduced in 1986.

He acknowledged cameras on fishing vessels are now a feature of the industry, but made clear his position as a NZ First MP that footage should be "exempted from the Official Information Act" so it doesn't fall into the hands of people who "hope to do damage to this valuable industry".

"If there are offences being committed in the industry, they should be charged in the court of a legal forum, not charged on TikTok, not charged in the court of public opinion."

He said out camera footage was very valuable should prosecution come to pass, but doesn't agree "it should be turned into some sort of ideological commodity, used to hammer out of context what the industry is doing when they are incredibly conscious of their social licence".

"However, that's the view of a New Zealand First member of parliament. It's not the view of Cabinet, but let's see what comes out of it."

Jones said the document reflects the fact "we all campaigned on different things" and doesn't commit Cabinet to one particular outcome.

He said it's fair to say ACT leader David Seymour wants to see deregulation, and also fair to say that National would be "very conscious that somehow I don't unwittingly fracture the social licence around fishing".

"I think I'm enhancing it, but I accept that my view is only one in a myriad of voices."

Jones also specified the rights that were "protected and safeguarded in the Fishery Settlement will be upheld".

"But after that settlement, the expectation of New Zealanders is that, irrespective of your background or your ethnicity, we're all in this together to ensure that the industry remains a sustainable enterprise, but at the same time, maintains jobs, income," he said.

"You would know that New Zealand has an unusual fishing management system in terms of other countries, because we have the property rights based quota system."

Customary rights for iwi and hapū were safeguarded in the Sealord settlement in 1992. He acknowledged it's a "tricky area," and said: "We'll have to be very careful that we get the balance right."

"I don't want to worsen any of the Crown commitments in our Treaty settlements, but if a fishery is genuinely stressed for a period of time, my preference would be no one has access to that fishery."

He accepts through some settlements, others may have different expectactions.

"I wouldn't know whether or not that would represent a hitherto unknown fracturing of a settlement at this stage."

The Quota Management System (QMS) controls the overall catches for most of the main fish stocks in New Zealand's waters, and ensures a total catch limit is set at a sustainable level.

Jones said the changes will "remove unnecessary regulations that impede productivity and the potential of the sector".

The proposals span three areas:

• Part 1: Proposals to improve responsiveness, efficiency and certainty of decision making
• Part 2: Greater protection for on-board camera footage and ensuring the onboard camera programme is workable
• Part 3: Implementing new rules for commercial fishers that set out when QMS fish must be landed and when they can return to sea

Part 1 changes would look to make clear why, when, or how the Minsiter would address "sustainability and utilisation matters".

Jones acknowledged some say Ministers shouldn't be invovled in sustainability decisions "because we're politicians and we might be susceptible to blandishments and other sorts of depredations".

He said "as a politician, I just dismiss all that filigree."

Losing battle over cameras

Part 2 relates to possible changes to the rules relating to on-board cameras, and includes enhancing protections for footage to address privacy concerns, amending the scope of the on-board camera programme to exclude some vessels where it's not practical, and clarifying when those cameras don't need to be used.

The current rollout began in 2023 and cameras were now operating on 161 commercial inshore fishing vessels.

The Ministry of Primary Industries confirmed the installation was scheduled to be completed this year on about 70 remaining in-scope vessels.

The current rollout began in 2023 and cameras are now installed on approximately 158 commercial fishing vessels.

Jones acknowledged the dial was shifting when it comes to having cameras on boats.

"I kind of knew I was losing that bet when my own beloved company, Moana Pacific, won't agree with me."

Moana New Zealand (Moana Pacific was a previous name of one of its units) has covered nearly all its fleet with cameras, despite not being legislatively required to.

The company's general manager, Mark Ngata, said it has had cameras for nearly a decade because it wanted to know what was happening, which then allows it to make "good sustainability decisions" and be part of forums within the sector.

Ngata acknowledged one concern was privacy for those working out on the boats.

Currently, camera footage is not exempt from the OIA.

Director of fisheries management at Fisheries New Zealand Emma Taylor said in a statement each request for official information relating to footage was assessed on a case by case basis.

"MPI published guidelines outline how MPI considers requests for fisheries information, including footage, in accordance with the Act's provisions to meet the public interest for release of information while protecting privacy of individuals and legitimate commercial interests of businesses."

Part 3 asks for feedback on best practice about when certain catch must be brought to shore, and when it can be returned to sea.

Sealord chief executive Doug Paulin said it was much better to be able to return incorrect catch to the sea. He said if it was brought to shore there were a whole lot of "unintended consequences" and returning it to the ecosystem was a "much better result for us all."

Industry body Seafood NZ also welcomed the proposed changes.

Chief executive Lisa Futschek said they were a "win for consumers, common sense and sustainability" and came at a great time for the sector".

"If you look at the document, sustainability is integrated right throughout it, so we can't have economic growth without ensuring that sustainability. So that's what the Fisheries Act is all about.

"So the Fisheries Act promotes and allows for utilisation of the resource, but it has to be ensuring that sustainability is maintained, and nothing about that changes through these proposals."

Politicians react

The Green Party is hitting out at the Oceans and Fisheries Minister, saying it is "fishy" only industry members were present at his press conference today.

Coalition partners have also waded in, saying they want to hear feedback - but there are issues of privacy when it comes to footage from fishing vessels being subject to the OIA.

The Greens Oceans and Fisheries spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said he thought it was "very fishy that at his press conference, all the industry people were there - where were the ocean protectors, where were the environmental defenders?"

When asked if the minister had been bought off by the fishing industry, Tuiono said "the question answers itself."

Co-leader Marama Davidson added "even fishers know, that if you scam all of their fish to big corporate fishing interests, the local fishers, our smaller fishers, they won't have anything left. What sort of economy is that?"

On the proposed changes, Tuiono said "if we continue to focus on short-term profit over long-term sustainability it's going to wash away the lifeblood of our oceans.

He said the problem with Jones, "amongst many other problems", is the "dig, baby, dig; trawl, baby, trawl" mentality that he has.

"He's got an absolute disdain for the environment.

"Actually what we need to be doing is protecting our oceans."

When asked, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon indicated there was an issue of making sure the privacy of workers on boats is protected should footage from cameras on board be exempt from OIA.

But, he said, there's a long way to go before decisions are made.

"We've got a consultation document out, let's get the feedback back and then we'll make decisions."

He added it is a $1.6 billion dollar sector and "we want to be able to grow our economy."

Seymour made the point that not too long ago people claimed there should be cameras in chicken coops as well as boats.

"If you want to get to a world where the government has cameras everywhere, and people can then request footage as public information that's been taken on your private property, I think there'd be a lot of people who would say hang on a minute, I'm not sure we want to go to that world."

He also questioned whether cameras on boats are good value for money, and then deal with the issue of privacy, "and then we might get somewhere."

"But generally, surveilling someone's private property, making that public information, and then making that subject to the OIA that anyone can access - you gotta ask yourself is that really what the state should do in a free society that respects people's privacy."

Submissions on the consultation document close at 5pm on 28 March 2025.

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