The health of the aquatic environment is protected

This contributing outcome covers the Fisheries Act 1996 obligations to ensure sustainability and work with other agencies to address impacts on the environment and fisheries resources not caused by fishing.

If the aquatic environment is to produce value for current and future generations, stocks need to be managed to target levels and the adverse effects of fishing need to be addressed. We need to understand the nature of ecosystems (composition, diversity, stability, productivity) and extent of the resources we are managing. Fisheries managers, working with stakeholders, have a dual role in this outcome. They work with other interest groups and government agencies, and within international forums, to increase understanding of resources and develop better ways of managing the impacts of all human activities affecting the aquatic environment. And they advise on specifying limits on fishing activity and develop mechanisms to encourage people to operate within those limits.

Providing incentives to improve environmental performance of fisheries

The Ministry wants to improve environmental performance of fisheries by giving stakeholders incentives to develop innovative ways to meet performance standards. Different incentives are used depending on the type of fishery and fishing method. Key mechanisms include encouraging tangata whenua and stakeholders to be involved in fisheries plans and the incentives provided by cost recovery and regulation.

Setting standards for fishing activity

Fishing generates benefits for the fisher but affects the aquatic environment. For example, catching fish may lead to the incidental capture of seabirds or disturbance to complex communities on the seabed. In each case, effective management requires incentives for fishers to modify their fishing activities to stay within the acceptable levels of impact on the aquatic environment.

To set effective standards the Ministry needs information on different parts of the aquatic environment (e.g., fish, birds, seals, habitat) and the risks to them resulting from fishing. The high cost of getting good information on aquatic ecosystems means that decisions often need to be made with limited information.

Ensuring environmental standards are met

An effective compliance regime achieves the desirable level of compliance; an efficient one achieves that goal at least cost using a combination of incentives and penalties. Since self-control is the cheapest form of enforcement, any compliance regime should endeavour to obtain the desirable level through voluntary compliance wherever practical.

Education and information may encourage fishers to keep within limits, but penalties will always be needed to ensure some standards are met. Currently the majority of penalties are provided by the Courts, (usually fines) imposed after conviction.

Contributing to processes that manage impacts not caused by fishing

The Ministry cannot directly control non-fishing activities that affect the health of the aquatic environment. The Ministry may, however, help develop new policies and ways of managing human activities that affect the aquatic environment. Information on fishers and aquatic resources may also be useful in setting limits for non-fishing activities, both domestically and internationally. In some cases this requires the Ministry to participate in processes leading to decisions on the management of non-fishing activities.