Introduction

"Fishing is the chief business in this part of the country," wrote Joseph Banks when he visited Northland on HMS Endeavour in 1769. Two hundred and thirty years later, fishing is still big business for New Zealand.

Last year, about 600,000 tonnes of fish was sustainably harvested from our seas. Much of this came from productive commercial fisheries on the Chatham Rise and in the Subantarctic. Here, vessels process fish in factories at sea for markets in Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States.

Fishing is also part of our heritage.

The fact that we can go down to the coast from any of our cities and towns, and catch a feed of fish or shellfish is something very special. It is part of what it means to be a New Zealander.

New Zealand's inshore fisheries reached crisis-point in the late 1970s. Government subsidies and high export prices had attracted more and more fishers with better boats and gear. This, and some ineffective management, led to species like snapper, scallop and rock lobster being over-fished. Everyone believed a new system was needed.

Also, New Zealand had declared an Exclusive Economic Zone out to 200 nautical miles and needed to rationally develop these offshore fisheries.

So in 1986, after extensive talks with fishers, the government brought in the Quota Management System.

This controls commercial fishing and has led our inshore fisheries to recover. It also improves the value New Zealand gets from commercial fisheries.

The system gives security to fishing companies. Because they know what their share of the coming year's catch will be, they can plan ahead. This encourages them to invest in equipment and staff to sustainably harvest, process and market the catch.

But what about the Treaty of Waitangi? In this, Māori were guaranteed "undisturbed access" to their fisheries. The courts found there was a major glitch. The way the quota system worked meant that Māori had no access to commercial fisheries, unless they owned fishing quota - which mostly they didn't.

A solution was agreed to. The government would return 20 percent of commercial fishing quota to Māori.

The government also agreed that iwi and hapu could continue to manage their non-commercial customary fisheries and traditional fishing grounds.

In the years since, Māori have built their commercial stake to a point where they now control or influence over 30 percent of our commercial fisheries.

Now the government has begun to look again at our important inshore fisheries. In some of these, there are simply not enough fish to meet everyone's expectations.

We have a growing population, which means more pressure on this valuable resource. Recreational fishing has become increasingly important in some regions. The role of tangata whenua in managing fisheries has increased. And we see changes in the commercial market values for some species.

In popular fisheries, where demand outpaces supply, the government must decide how to share the fish between our non-commercial and commercial fishers. Where does the best value for the country lie? This is a public policy issue the Ministry of Fisheries is working to resolve.

The oceans and their ecosystems are hugely complex. New Zealand's marine environment covers some 4.4 million square kilometres of ocean, and we struggle to understand a tiny fraction of this.

Poor knowledge of the oceans - natural systems and their creatures makes managing fisheries a difficult job. It is easy to get it wrong. And sometimes we do. So the government is cautious whenever it sets catch limits for fisheries.

But sharing and controlling fish catches, and maintaining breeding stocks in our fisheries are not the only management we need. Fishing can also disturb sea bed habitats and marine ecosystems, and can harm other species like marine mammals and seabirds.

The government is working with tangata whenua, scientists, environmental interests, and fishing companies to make sure these effects stay within acceptable levels.

The management of fisheries outside New Zealand waters is also important.

When New Zealand's 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was established in 1977, our fishing industry was largely an inshore affair. Since then, the industry has developed fishing opportunities throughout our EEZ and beyond, including international waters. Today, the government works to protect New Zealand interests in a number of fisheries outside of our EEZ. These include fisheries in the southern ocean, Antarctic, the Tasman Sea, and the Pacific Ocean.

As seafood exports are a valuable foreign exchange earner, the government also works to make sure our exporters get a fair deal in world markets.

*provisional estimate

Number of Ministry of Fisheries' projects by research area