INTRODUCTION
This briefing provides an overview of the fisheries sector and the key issues likely to come before the Minister of Fisheries over the next three years. It details the contribution of the Ministry of Fisheries to the Government's role in fisheries management and the wider marine sector.
Fisheries management in New Zealand deals with a resource that is ecologically, socially, culturally and economically important to the country as a whole. The management approach acknowledges the customary use and management rights of tangata whenua; reflects the fact that, as an island nation and signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, we have international obligations relating to fisheries in New Zealand waters and in the high seas; and deals with the underlying tensions between groups interested in fishing and those groups concerned primarily with conservation of resources.
Fisheries management relates to the relationship New Zealanders have with the ocean and their environment, and their aspirations for the future of that environment. The fisheries sector is characterised by tension between various participants who have competing values and objectives. The sector has also been at the forefront of innovation and change, with considerable ongoing legislative amendment.
The operating environment for the Minister of Fisheries and the Ministry can be very difficult.
While we have a well-developed scientific, legal and strategic framework, our fisheries and their management are under ongoing public scrutiny. Six particular factors impact on the operating environment:
- divergent views on the long-term direction of oceans and fisheries management • different views on appropriate access to fisheries for recreational, customary and commercial fishers
- different views on the appropriate balance between protection of the marine environment and sustainable use of fisheries resources
- users of fisheries having firm views on fisheries management and not being reluctant to make those views known, including through the courts and the political system
- lack of public awareness and understanding of fisheries management resulting in ill-informed debate and lower-than-desired public support
- the Ministry, tangata whenua and stakeholders having insufficient incentives, capability, capacity and information to optimise management of fisheries.
The Minister is central to the way in which fisheries management issues are addressed and reconciled and is in a position to provide leadership and direction within the fisheries sector.
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To improve fisheries management, the Ministry has identified the following priorities for the period until 2008:
leadership and collaboration- providing increased leadership in the fisheries sector
- improving tangata whenua and stakeholder engagement
- improving the availability of information
focus on achieving outcomes - improving the environmental performance of fishing
- enhancing the value obtained by tangata whenua and stakeholders
integration and accountability - increasing our focus on international fisheries issues
- increasing our focus on management of the broader marine environment
- improving our monitoring and reporting on performance of fisheries
- developing and implementing new management approaches
maintain the integrity of existing management systems