maintaining existing management systems
During the year, we have set priorities for the future by finalising the Statement of Intent for 2005-2008, made progress on many of these priorities and implemented the organisational changes and investments necessary to pursue our new direction. At the same time, we have continued to undertake core Ministry functions and pursue initiatives aimed at maintaining the integrity of existing management systems.
Improving our fisheries management framework
We have a world-leading fisheries management framework that we continue to improve. A significant milestone this year was the Fisheries Amendment Act (No. 3) enacted in September 2004. This revised the Fisheries Act 1996 to reinforce the QMS as the preferred management framework for managing fisheries resources. It also made a number of changes to improve fisheries management.
By maintaining an excellent working relationship with FishServe, the Ministry has been able to implement those changes that were required as a result of the enactment of the Fisheries Amendment Act (No. 3) as well as the Maori Fisheries Act 2004. The most significant of these were changes to the permitting regime that included the lifting of the moratorium, and changes to the highly migratory species regime and the quota registration system, which allowed for the placement of settlement interests. We began work in support of all the administrative aspects of the aquaculture reforms, which required the development of two new registers. We delivered on regulatory rounds in support of these changes and the introduction of 21 new species into the QMS.
Refocusing our compliance effort
The Ministry’s Compliance function is a major part of maintaining the integrity of the fisheries management system. Around 36% of the Ministry’s resources are devoted to its fisheries Compliance functions. This year has seen some important changes in our approach as we seek to align our compliance services more closely with fisheries management objectives.
Most fishers play by the rules. In fact, statistics show high levels of compliance with recreational fishing rules by our 800,000 recreational fishers. However, there are some fisheries in specific locations where compliance rates are known to be very low. The need, therefore, is to focus on non-compliance in the places most affected and where the impact on fisheries is greatest. This requires a coordinated, national approach.
To achieve this, we have centralised and nationalised the compliance group’s management structure bringing it together in three teams. These include an investigation team, with the tools to tackle the increasing problem of organised crime; an information team, providing the information needed to prioritise and target resources; and a team of frontline officers focused on those areas where non-compliance is having the biggest impact on fisheries resources.
Paua is one fishery in which non-compliance is having a major impact on stock sustainability. We diverted resources from other areas this year to combat the problem of paua poaching. Additional funds voted for 2005/06 will enable us to keep up the pressure on paua poachers. With the industry, we have established the Joint Paua Fishery Working Group to develop and implement a range of initiatives to tackle this problem.
In the year, additional funding was received for Customary Compliance as part of the Ministry’s overall focus on meeting our obligations to Maori. While some areas continue to provide compliance challenges due to the use of customary fishing to mask poaching and black-market activity, a good working relationship has been developed with a large number of tangata whenua groups. Compliance will be building on these relationships and developing new ones in order to provide effective compliance associated with customary fishing management tools such as closures under section 186A of the Fisheries Act 1996 and m–ataitai that are increasingly being used by tangata whenua.
Achieving success in our prosecutions is an important measure of our compliance activities. A high success rate is more likely to create an effective deterrent to wouldbe offenders. We are pleased to report a success rate for prosecutions of 93.2% during the year. In the next period, we will develop new performance measures that look at linking outputs (number of infringement notices) to desired outcomes (such as higher levels of compliance). We have continued to focus on health and safety issues. Measures in place or coming online in the next period include a national radio network and call centre for frontline officers,