- Hon Shane Jones
Fisheries offences will be subject to a broader range of penalties to ensure the punishment fits the crime under regulatory changes that come into effect on April 10, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.
"Until now, the only option to deal with some fisheries offences by recreational and commercial fishers has been prosecution, which can take a lot of time and resources and doesn't always fairly reflect the level of offending.
"The new infringement offences mean Fishery Officers will be able to issue fines that are more proportionate to the level of offending, removing unnecessary cost and burden on the court system."
The new infringement fees range from $200 to $500 depending on the offending.
"By fitting the punishment to the crime, we can free up the system to better deal with more serious offending. Make no mistake, fishers who break the rules will face the consequences and prosecution remains on the table where appropriate."
New infringement offences will also apply for breaches of bylaws made under customary fishing regulations with fees ranging from $250 to $500.
Other regulatory changes coming into force on April 10 include allowing spearfishing by commercial fishers, and the use of underwater breathing apparatus (UBA) for harvesting scallops.
"Consumers here and around the world prize New Zealand's seafood for its high quality and sustainability, so it makes good sense to allow selective methods like spearfishing."
Commercial spearfishing will be allowed in most waters around the South Island and lower North Island.
"While most areas are currently closed to scallop fishing, including all of the commercially fished scallop beds, the provision of UBA for commercial scallop-gathering provides a more selective harvesting method if the fishery is reopened in the future. This is about future-proofing the rules with sustainability at the core," Mr Jones says.
Summary of the changes to offences and penalties:
New infringement offences
- A fee of $400 for most breaches of recordkeeping requirements (under the Fisheries (Recordkeeping) Regulations 1990).
- A fee of $200 for failing to respond to notifications (issued pursuant to regulation 44 of the Fisheries (Reporting) Regulations 2017). This is when Fisheries New Zealand asks a fisher to confirm or correct information that has been provided for the purpose of ensuring quality and accuracy of data received from commercial fishers.
- Two infringements for failure to use or apply seabird mitigation: a fee of $500 for offences relating to failure to use or apply a seabird mitigation measure, and a fee of $250 for breaches of technical specifications.
- Breaches of bylaws that are made under three sets of customary fishing regulations will become infringement offences. Two different fees will apply:
- $250 for offences that involve taking or possessing more than the daily limit of a species to which a bylaw applies, but not more than two times that daily limit; and
- $500 for all other offences.
- Specific offence and penalty provisions for failure to comply with conditions on a fish receiver's licence with a fine not exceeding $20,000.
- An offence provision for failure to comply with administrative requirements (under Regulation 7(4) of the Fisheries (South-East Area Commercial Fishing) Regulations 1986). This regulation sets out tagging requirements for commercially caught rock lobster in the Otago fishery and sets a new offence provision of a fine not exceeding $20,000 for failure to meet tagging and labelling requirements.
Other changes
Further information about the changes can be found on MPI's website.
