Strategy for New Zealand's Fisheries

Managing for outcomes

People and organisations involved in fisheries generally share our goal of sustainable fisheries. We want the best value from our fisheries resources, while keeping the aquatic ecosystem strong and healthy. For this, we need an effective management system.

The Ministry of Fisheries uses an outcomes 'framework'. This sets out what we want to achieve and how we will do it using incentives, management interventions, and fisheries services.

Statements about outcomes tend to be general and wide in scope, but become more specific as we consider particular services or activities. The results that must be produced by both fishers and managers to achieve our outcomes are clearly defined.

The framework is divided into:

• Outcomes - desired results across fisheries.

• Standards - required levels of performance.

• Objectives - desired results for a specific fishery.

• Rules - Strategies - Interventions - management measures to meet standards and achieve objectives.

• Services - management activities to enable rules to be complied with.

All these layers are linked. This enables tangata whenua and stakeholders to comment on, or critique, specific options. It also provides a clear basis for monitoring and evaluating what is delivered.

As with any management system, we regularly compare what we intended to achieve with actual performance. This means that, if necessary, we can set or amend particular standards, objectives, rules, or the level of fisheries service that is provided.

The basic features of the outcomes framework are set out in the following diagram.