Strategic direction

Fisheries 2030

The Ministry is currently working with tangata whenua and stakeholders to finalise a direction and strategy for our fisheries for the next twenty years. This builds on the findings of an independent report (Fisheries 2030) by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), released in March 2009, that proposes a package of actions to unlock the potential of the fisheries sector, which includes aquaculture, commercial, amateur and customary fishing.

Improved specification of results to be achieved will be supported by a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation regime that will reflect our progress in delivering the action plan and ensure accountability of New Zealand fisheries management into the future.

The goal proposed in Fisheries 2030 is:

New Zealanders maximising benefits from the use of fisheries within environmental limits.

Fisheries 2030 describes a vision for the future. By 2030, New Zealand’s fisheries will be:

• world-leading and recognised for achieving a track record of environmental and commercial leadership and success, both domestically and internationally
• a sector that New Zealanders are proud of, in that they understand that a precious but limited national resource is being responsibly managed, in the interests of all, for both the present and the future
• based on healthy and abundant aquatic environments that are ecologically sustainable, about which we have reliable and dynamic information
• a sector in which there are positive Crown–Māori partnerships, balancing and optimising cultural and commercial value
• profitable and efficient, with a strong focus on long-term economic value
• characterised by high trust and high accountability relationships amongst both use and non-extractive use interests and between stakeholder and rights holder entities and Government
• a dynamic system in which transparent and robust decisions about allocation and trading-off are being made by stakeholders and rights holders themselves, within a more enabling legislative and regulatory framework.

Fisheries 2030 also identifies the following pre-conditions that will need to be in place if the vision is to be achieved:

• all stakeholders having a stake/rights, and associated responsibilities, that are understood and for which people can be held accountable
• clarity around the reciprocal roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the fisheries sector
• a more enabling approach to the creation of economic value from the fisheries sector
• a dynamic, transparent and responsive system of management and harvesting that takes account of wider aquatic ecosystems
• meaningful co-management relationships with Māori within the context of the Fisheries Settlement
• greater confidence and trust between the participants/stakeholders in the fisheries sector (and between the public and the sector)
• decisions being made on the best available information irrespective of source.

Outcomes and measures that support the proposed goal and vision will also be identified. Subject to Cabinet consideration and approval, the Ministry intends to begin implementing Fisheries 2030 in 2009/10 and expects to have in place a monitoring and evaluation regime to assess delivery against revised and more comprehensive outcomes and our strategic direction by June 2010. Our next Statement of Intent (SOI) will reflect the resulting changes.