They are being called the most significant reforms of New Zealand's fisheries for decades. This is the week Minister Shane Jones launched the consultation on the proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act. This Update will give you all you need to know about what is and what isn't in the document.
Wellington turned on the sun on Wednesday and (somehow) turned off the wind, meaning it was warm on the waterfront near Queen's wharf. If the weather was unusual, so perhaps, was the crowd gathered there at 9am - around a dozen members of New Zealand's media alongside roughly the same number of Ministry for Primary Industry officials and a school of fishing industry leaders and fishers.
We were gathered to hear from the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, who was about to launch this - the MPI summary of the proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act Consultation Document.
Minister Jones held the 70 page document steadily aloft almost the entire time he spoke as he described it as "arguably the broadest set of changes since the QMS (Quota Management System) was introduced."
The changes could indeed be very significant. But it is not certain they will all be passed by Parliament. The proposals are in three major areas:
- Decision making processes, including making multi-year catch decisions and better integrating socio-economic factors in TAC setting
- The use of onboard cameras and potential exemption of camera footage from Official Information Act requests
Landings and discards, including the option to return certain QMS species to sea if monitored by an onboard camera or observer and counted against that fisher's ACE
And here are three things that ARE NOT in the document:
- It does not threaten the sustainability of our oceans. Quite the opposite. For example, it will help MPI to respond faster when they see fish stock levels going up or down by being allowed to draw on a wider range of data. If there's a problem, they can react quickly before that problem becomes serious.
- There is no undermining of anyone else's rights. Environment or lobby groups don't need to worry about the impact on the planet or their ability to continue to fish recreationally. The public will still always have an opportunity to have their say on fisheries decisions.
- It is not a blow to transparency. The proposal to exempt onboard camera footage from the Official Information Act won't stop the public having access to the data gathered by the cameras exactly as they do now. The regulator will still be able to view all the footage captured, record what is being caught and then publish that information.
We were not surprised that media and certain lobby groups were focused on the use of camera footage. It's an easy issue to understand and to misunderstand.
We strongly support protecting the privacy of our fishers. Cameras were always supposed to be about verification - NOT vilification.
But the sad fact is, if footage is made available, there is a small group of people who will misuse it (for years and sometimes decades) to take aim at fishers. In some cases, this takes the form of harassment and abuse, something we see already and do not want to get worse. Fishers need to have their privacy protected as part of having their safety protected.
In order to help ensure this happens, we would strongly urge all our seafood whānau to take part in the submissions process. Yes, it takes time, but even if you've never done anything like this before and think you'll never do it again, this is the time to have your say.
These proposals have the potential to change our industry for the better, removing red tape, bringing common sense into our operations and enabling the regulator and us to respond faster and smarter to changes in the fishery.
In the next couple of weeks we will be sharing invitations to attend meetings that explain what is in MPI's proposal document. We will also keep you up to date with any and all developments. Please get involved.
We believe these proposals will make our industry even more sustainable in every sense of the word. We need sustainable fish stocks and sustainable businesses. We need our communities, people, fish stocks and oceans to thrive.
Learn more and make a submission.
