Area/stock Specific Authorisations

1.    INTRODUCTION

Certain areas of the high seas, and certain stocks fished on the high seas, are managed by regional fisheries conservation and management organisations or arrangements. In these situations, a high seas fishing permit alone will not automatically give you access to the resources managed by the arrangement or organisation. This section contains information on how you can try to get access to these resources.

2.    ARRANGEMENTS THAT NEW ZEALAND IS A PARTY TO

New Zealand is bound by several international conventions or arrangements that are relevant when fishing under a high seas fishing permit. These include: 

• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR);
• Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT);
• Report of the Third International Meeting on the Establishment of the proposed South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO);
• Arrangement between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of Australia for the Conservation and Management of Orange Roughy on the South Tasman Rise (STR);
• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Convention (WCPFC).

Each of these arrangements creates specific requirements for those using New Zealand fishing vessels. These are specified in regulations and in high seas permit conditions.  

Applications for these authorisations/registrations are separate processes from applications for high seas fishing permits. You should contact the Ministry of Fisheries if you want to apply for an additional authorisation/registration.

3.    ARRANGEMENTS THAT NEW ZEALAND IS NOT A PARTY TO

3.1   International Obligations

The United Nations Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (UNFSA) places clear obligations on New Zealand with respect to arrangements that New Zealand is not a party to (in particular, Article 17). New Zealand must co-operate with sub-regional or regional fisheries management organisations or arrangements in the conservation and management of relevant straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, even if it is not a member of, or participant in, those organisations or arrangements.

Most importantly, New Zealand cannot authorise its vessels to fish for stocks that are managed by organisations or arrangements New Zealand is not a member of or a participant in (Article 17.2). That is why your high seas fishing permit prohibits fishing for stocks managed by the following regional or sub-regional fisheries management organisations or arrangements:

• General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)
• Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)  
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
• Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC)
• International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC)
• Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO)
• Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)

New Zealand's international obligations are such that this list of organisations and arrangements will change over time. When a change is made to this list, the Ministry of Fisheries will notify you and the change will be reflected as an amendment to your permit conditions. You are encouraged to contact the Ministry of Fisheries to discuss how your planned activities may relate to New Zealand's international obligations.

3.2   Regional, Sub-regional Organisations and Arrangements that New Zealand is not a party to

Arrangement /Organisation	Stock managed	Area	Web Address
IATTC (Convention for the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission)	Yellowfin and skipjack tuna and other kinds of fish taken by tuna vessels in the Convention area	Eastern Pacific ocean	http://www.iattc.org/
ICCAT (International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas)	Tuna and tuna-like species	Atlantic Ocean, including adjacent Seas	http://www.iccat.int/
NAFO (Convention on future multilateral co-operation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries)	All fish, aquatic life or seaweed	The waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean north of 35º 00' north latitude and west of a line extending due north from 35º 00' north latitude and 42º 00' west longitude to 59º 00' north latitude, thence due west to 44º 00' west longitude, and thence due north to the coast of Greenland and the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay south of 78º 10' north latitude	http://www.nafo.int/
IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission)	Tuna and tuna-like species	The Indian Ocean and adjacent seas, north of the Antarctic Convergence	http://www.iotc.org/English/
GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean)	All aquatic resources	Mediterranean waters and contiguous waters	http://www.gfcm.org/
IPHC (International Pacific Halibut Commission)	Halibut (Hippoglossus)	In the territorial waters of Canada and of the United States and in the high seas off the western coast of Canada and of the United States, including Bering Sea	http://www.iphc.washington.edu/
NEAFC (Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission)	All fisheries resources except for marine mammals and sedentary species	(a) within those parts of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and their dependent seas which lie north of 36º north latitude and between 42º west longitude and 51º east longitude, but excluding: (i) the Baltic Sea and the Belts lying to the south and east of lines drawn from Hasenore Head to Gniben Point, from Korshage to Spodsbierg and from Gilbierg Head to the Kullen, and (ii) the Mediterranean Sea and its dependent seas as far as the point of intersection of the parallel of 36º latitude and the meridian of 5º 36' west longitude (b) within that part of the Atlantic Ocean north of 59º north latitude and between 44º west longitude and 42º west longitude	http://www.neafc.org/

The next section describes how operators using New Zealand vessels may be able to get access to the stocks managed by the above organisations or arrangements.

3.3   Access - The Approval Process

If you want to fish for stocks, or in areas, managed by the above organisations or arrangements, you need an approval from the chief executive of the Ministry of Fisheries. This approval works as an exemption from the prohibition contained in the permit.

To apply for an approval, write to the Ministry of Fisheries. The government will then work out how to try and accommodate New Zealand's interests in the stocks managed by that arrangement or organisation. This may involve New Zealand agreeing to apply the organisation's or arrangement's conservation and management measures (as per Article 17.1 of UNFSA) or joining the arrangement or organisation.

An approval issued by the chief executive will specify the measures that the approval holder will have to comply with. Those measures will relate directly to the organisation's or arrangement's conservation and management measures and will be treated like high seas permit conditions.

The process of engagement with these organisations or arrangements will take time. The organisation's or arrangement's decision-making procedures will determine how long it takes before New Zealand finds out whether or not it can authorise its fishers.

You should therefore contact the Ministry of Fisheries as soon as possible if you are planning to fish for stocks that are managed by the above organisations or arrangements.

The ability of the New Zealand government to issue an approval, and thus authorise fishing for stocks managed by these organisations or arrangements, is subject to its international obligations. In some circumstances it may not be possible to issue an approval. If this is the case, the Ministry will advise the applicant of the reasons why the request for an approval has been declined.

4.    PROCEDURES

All requests for approvals should be sent to FishServe. Processing applications will take time. The length of time will depend on the decision-making framework of the organisation or arrangement.

5.    FEES

Currently no fees are charged for processing applications for approvals.

6.    CONTACT DETAILS

For enquiries related to area/stock specific authorisations or approvals, please contact:

                FishServe 
                P O Box 297 
                WELLINGTON 
                Telephone: +64 4 460 4694 
                Fax: +64 4 460 4701 
                Email: helpline@fishserve.co.nz

Footnote(s):

1

This information is to help the reader understand how the high seas fishing regime will work. It is not legal advice.