Intergration and accountability

We have made significant progress this year in integrating our approach to domestic and international fisheries and in integrating fisheries management and broader marine management issues.

FOCUSING ON INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES ISSUES

Increasingly, what happens in fisheries and markets in other parts of the world affects our fisheries. Industry is looking outward for opportunities. The Ministry needs to do the same to make sure the governance framework the industry is operating in is sound.

Developing governance arrangements in the South Pacific

This year, New Zealand, together with our Australian and Chilean counterparts, initiated the establishment of a new regional fisheries management organisation. The new organisation will fill one of the last remaining gaps in the international governance framework for high seas fisheries. The new organisation will manage non-highly migratory fisheries in high seas parts of the South Pacific Ocean. A key function will be to manage the adverse impacts of fishing activity on biodiversity, including the sea floor.

Combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

New Zealand has also taken a leading role in addressing the issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in international waters. Identifying and prioritising measures to combat this problem is the aim of the High Seas Task Force. Its members include Fisheries Ministers from Australia, Canada, Chile, Namibia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and the Directors-General of WWF, IUCN and the Earth Institute.

Ministerial members of the Task Force met in March 2005 in Paris and agreed on a range of initiatives aimed at addressing IUU fishing. On 14 July 2005, New Zealand formally accepted the FAO Compliance Agreement. This major international agreement aims to deter the owners of fishing vessels from re-flagging their vessels to another state to avoid compliance with international fishing rules. The agreement puts more responsibilities on flag states to control their vessels fishing on the high seas. It also sets out procedures for exchanging information on high seas fishing vessels and provides the basis for improved international cooperation to combat IUU fishing.

Working with our Pacific neighbours

The Ministry has continued to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and NZAID to strengthen governance of fisheries in the Pacific, both bilaterally and via the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in Honiara. The Convention on the Conservation of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean entered into force in June 2004 and the first meeting of the associated Commission was held in December 2004. The Convention focuses on the sustainable management of Pacific tuna stocks, which is of critical importance for Pacific Island countries for whom fisheries are a key, if not the only, significant economic resource.

Our focus will now shift to working with Pacific Island countries to establish governance arrangements and management measures, both at national level and within the Commission, that will provide long-term sustainable economic benefits to their countries and to New Zealand.

MANAGING THE BROADER MARINE ENVIRONMENT

Reducing the environmental impacts of fishing fits into the broader objective of managing the whole marine environment more effectively. We continue to work across government, cooperating and coordinating initiatives to improve our performance in protecting the aquatic environment. The year saw many examples of the Ministry working with other agencies and with industry to protect biodiversity and limit the impact of fishing on other animals in the marine environment.

The Ministry and the Department of Conservation began implementing the National Plan of Action for Seabirds (NPOA Seabirds) in conjunction with industry and environmental stakeholders. The NPOA seeks to reduce the number of seabirds killed as a result of fishing, primarily through the use of voluntary Codes of Practice, but supported by regulatory action where Codes are not sufficiently mitigating seabird bycatch. Voluntary Codes of Practice were put forward and assessed for four high-risk fisheries.

However, following poor performance in one of these fisheries, we began a consultation process on the introduction of mandatory seabird mitigation measures for large trawl vessels fishing around the South Island and in sub-Antarctic waters. Along with the Department of Conservation, the Ministry has developed joint seabird research proposals for 2005/06 for the first time, and will be finalising a joint seabird research five-year plan over the coming months. During the year, the Ministry implemented its Annual Operational Plan for managing the interaction between New Zealand sea lions and squid trawl vessels around the Auckland Islands. The fishery was closed by agreement once the Fishing Related Mortality Limit of 115 sea lions was reached. Preparatory work was also commenced on a National Plan of Action for Sharks. This will be developed over the next year and subsequently released for consultation.