The Quota Management System

The QMS was introduced in 1986. It controls the total commercial catch for virtually all the main fish stocks found within New Zealand’s 200 nautical mile EEZ.

There are currently 97 species (including species groupings) in the QMS. For information on these species see Status of Fisheries.

The QMS was introduced because it was seen as the best way to: 

• prevent overfishing, which had reached critical levels in some inshore fisheries;
• improve the economic efficiency of the fishing industry; and
• continue the development of our deepwater fisheries. (see events leading to the QMS)

In the QMS, commercial fishing rights are allocated as individual transferable quota. The main characteristics of quota are:

• it is owned by an individual or company (or any other legal entity);
• only New Zealanders can own quota for our fisheries;
• the right is not created for a fixed term – it is perpetual;
• it secures a fixed percentage of the available resource;
• it is fully transferable and divisible; and
• it is a valuable asset that enables owners to borrow against the quota.

Allocating quota to individual fishers encourages them to ensure catch levels are sustainable over the long term. It also helps to protect the economic value of the quota for when the fisher chooses to leave the industry. In the short term quota gives security to fishing companies. Because they know what their share of the coming years' catch will be, they can plan ahead. This encourages them to invest in equipment and staff to sustainably harvest, process and market the catch.

Impacts of the QMS

The introduction of the QMS brought major changes to the nature of the fishing industry. In the lead up to introduction of the QMS part-time fishers were removed from the inshore fishery without compensation. Only full-time commercial fisheries were allocated quota. A substantial reduction in the number of fishing vessels occurred as a result. In the early 1990s the QMS provided the security for quota owners to invest in the buying of deepwater fishing vessels to fish species such as orange roughy and hoki. The fishing industry continues to be made up of a small number of large fishing companies plus many small scale companies and individual fishers. (See about the fishing industry)

Since its inception the QMS has delivered significant benefits to New Zealand. Export returns and numbers employed in the seafood industry have increased. The QMS has been an important factor in improving the sustainability of many of our fisheries that were previously over-fished.

New Zealand is not the first country to bring in quotas, but it is the only one to use them on such a broad scale across all fisheries. More than 15 countries have followed New Zealand’s lead (and that of Iceland) in establishing quota systems. Most countries still manage fisheries by controlling inputs, such as the number of boats, the size of boats, and mesh size of the nets.

Even though we have a quota system, New Zealand has not by any means totally removed the need for input. New Zealand continues to rely on a combination of both quota and a series of input controls as a way of managing our fisheries. (See management controls)