Glossary

ACE / Annual Catch Entitlement

 Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE) tells fishers how many tonnes of fish they can catch in a certain fishery in a certain year. It is given to quota owners based on the number of quota shares they own.

Aquaculture

 The farming of fish or shellfish.  The most common species currently being farmed are mussels, oysters and salmon.  Also known as marine farming.

Billfish

These are species such as marlin and sailfish that have an elongated, sword-like or spear-like snout and upper jaw.

Biodiversity

 Biodiversity is all the different types of life – including plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms as well as the ecosystems they live in.

Biomass

The sum of the weight of all fish in a stock.

Bony fish

These fish have a bony skeleton and a single pair of external gill openings

By-catch

These are the other fish species, birds and marine mammals that fishers may catch  when fishing for another specific fish species.

Climate change

 Any long-term (from decades to millions of years) significant change in environmental conditions that a given region experiences.

Closed Areas

Areas of the sea where there are fishing restrictions. For example, some areas might be closed to all fishers to allow fish to build up their numbers. Other areas might be closed just to certain types of fishing, like set netting, to protect endangered species.

Closed Seasons

Some areas are closed for a set time to protect the fish.

Commercial fisher

A person that fishes for a living

Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT)

 CCSBT is a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation responsible for the protection of Southern Bluefin Tuna. Member countries include Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Korea and Taiwan, and Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, and the European Community have signed up as co-operating non-members.

Contaminated

 Something that has been made dirty or unsafe by mixing with something else. For example, the water was contaminated by sewage.

Customary fishing

Non-commercial fishing by people who have been given a permit by a Tangata Tiaki or Tangata Kaitiaki. 

Customary regulations

Either the Fisheries (Kaimoana Customary Fishing) Regulations 1998 or the Fisheries (South Island Customary Fishing) Regulations 1998.

Deemed Value

 A fine for commercial fishers who catch more of a certain type of fish than they are allowed to.

Deepwater & Middle Depths fisheries

Fisheries found at depths of 200-1000 metres below the surface of the sea.

Deed of Settlement 1992

Signed in December 1992.  Came about through the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act.  Settled Maori claims to commercial fisheries.  This has been supported by more recent legislation such as the Fisheries Act 1996.

Demersal fish

Bottom feeding fish.

Distribution

The way individual fish of a species are spread through an area.

Diving

Scuba Divers carry tanks of compressed air on their backs so they can go deep underwater and swim around without having to come up to the surface to breathe, sometimes for an hour or longer.

Dredging

 A fishing method used to gather scallops and oysters from shallow water.  The fishing boat tows a steel net (dredge) along the sea floor, and the net scraps up all the shellfish living there.

Ecosystems

 An ecosystem is an area where climate, landscape, animals and plants are constantly interacting.

Echo sounders

An instrument that sends out a pulse in water and measures distances based on the amount of time it takes for the echo of the pulse to return.

EEZ / Exclusive Economic Zone

 An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is an area of sea that one country has the special right to explore and take marine resources from.  New Zealand’s EEZ extends from 12 nautical miles (nm) from our coast to 200nm (which is 370 kilometres) out to sea. Our Territorial Sea covers the area from New Zealand’s coastline out to 12nm. 

Estuary

The wide part of a river where it nears the sea, where fresh and salt water mix.

Exotic species

 Species that are introduced to New Zealand from another country.

Filleting

 Cutting the scales and bones off a fish to turn it into fillets.

Fishery

A general term for the combination of fishers, vessels and fishing gear involved in catching fish from a stock, as well as the fishing grounds and the catch.

Fishery officers

 People who work for the Ministry of Fisheries to make sure that all fishers understand and stick to the New Zealand fishing rules.

Gutting

 Cutting the guts out of a fish.

Habitat

A place where something lives.

Hand lines

 A single fishing line with a hook on the end, usually attached to a rod, and held by hand.

High seas

 Areas of the ocean that are not part of any country’s EEZ.

Highly Migratory Species (HMS)

Highly migratory species (HMS) are fish that travel long distances – through different countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and throughout the high seas. 

Honorary fishery officers (HFOs)

 Volunteers who work for the Ministry of Fisheries to help make sure that all fishers understand and stick to the New Zealand fishing rules.

Illegal fishing activity

 Fishing that breaks New Zealand’s laws or regulations. For example, taking more fish than allowed, taking fish smaller than the legal size, taking fish from areas closed to fishing.

Inshore fisheries

 Fisheries that are found between the shore out to depths of about 200 metres.

Kaimoana

 Seafood.

Kina

 Sea Egg.

Long lines

 Long-lines have a main fishing line that lies on the surface of the water.  The line is anchored at each end, and floats stop the line from sinking.  Shorter lines, with bait and hooks attached to them, hang off the main line.

Manuhiri

 Guests.

Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement

An agreement that the Crown will provide Maori with the equivalent of 20 percent of all marine farming space created around New Zealand’s coasts and harbours since 21 September 1992.

Maori Fisheries Act 1989

Passed in 1989, the Maori Fisheries Act saw the government buy back 10 percent of the quota shares it had given out to commercial fishers under the QMS and give them to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.

Marine biodiversity

 Biodiversity is all the different types of life – including plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms as well as the ecosystems they live in.  Marine biodiversity is the variety of life found in coastal and sea environments.

Marine farming

The farming of fish or shellfish.  The most common species currently being farmed are mussels, oysters and salmon.  Also known as Aquaculture.

Marine mammal sanctuaries

 Sanctuaries can be set up within New Zealand's territorial sea to create a permanent refuge where no one can do anything that might harm particular marine mammal species. These sanctuaries are managed by the Department of Conservation.

Marine mammals

 Mammals that live in the ocean, such as dolphins, whales and seals.

Marine products

 Products made from something that has come from the sea. This could include caviar, pills made from fish oil, or beauty products made from seaweed.

Marine reserves

 Areas of sea and foreshore where no fishing is allowed.

Mätaitai

 Fishery reserves managed by appointed tangata whenua.

MFish

Ministry of Fisheries – Te Tautiaki i nga tini a Tangaroa.

Mortality

Death rate.

NIWA

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research:

A Crown Research Institute that carries out a large amount of fisheries research under contract to the Ministry of Fisheries.

Observers

People who work for the Ministry of Fisheries on board commercial fishing boats collecting scientific data and information about commercial fishing activities.

Otolith

Part of the inner ear of the fish important for balance and hearing.  This grows from the centre out in a series of daily rings and seasonal bands or growth zones.  Otoliths can be used to help identify the age of fish.

Over-fishing

When too many fish are taken from a fishery, putting it at risk of collapsing. 

Pelagic fish

Surface feeding or free swimming fish.  (Compare with demersal fish)

Permit

 A form of authority issued to commercial fishers by the Ministry of Fisheries or an organisation or person (eg tangata tiaki/kaitiaki) approved by the Ministry or Minister of Fisheries.  Can be restricted by type of species able to be targeted, methods able to be used and areas permitted to fish in.

Poacher

A person who takes fish or shellfish without authority and sells it.

Pollution

Introducing harmful substances or products into the environment.

Potting

A pot-like trap that is attached to a long rope is baited with fish and dropped from a fishing boat.  The rope is marked with floats so that the fisher can easily find the line when they want to haul up the pot again.

QMS / Quota Management System

 The Quota Management System (QMS) was introduced in 1986. It uses quota to manage New Zealand commercial fisheries sustainably.

Quota

 The right to harvest a particular species of fish from a specific fishery. Can be bought and sold, like shares on the stock market.

Recreational fisher

 Fishers that fish for fun, sport or to obtain food for themselves and their families.  Also known as amateur fishers or anglers.

Regional Fisheries Management Organisation / RFMO

 Regional Fisheries Management Organisations are groups of countries that meet to decide how to manage fisheries in specific areas of the high seas.

Rohe moana

 Coastal marine area of significance to iwi or hapū.

SCUBA diver

Scuba divers carry tanks of compressed air on their backs so they can go underwater and swim around without having to come up to the surface to breathe, sometimes for an hour or longer. (SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)

SeaFIC

New Zealand Seafood Industry Council.

Sealord Deal

Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act

Sedimentation

 Sedimentation occurs when soil and nutrient run-off from the land pours into harbours and estuaries where the water is very still, and drops down to settle on the sea floor.

Seining

 Seining (said like: “say-ning”) involves dropping a net to surround and trap a school of fish.  There are two types of seining – Danish seining, which is used to catch fish near the bottom of the sea, and purse seining, which is used to catch fish near the surface.

Set netting

 A fishing method where a net is placed in the water with floats at the top and weights on the bottom.  Fish are caught as they swim into the net.

Shared fisheries

 Fisheries of importance to more than one group of stakeholders.

SLEDs / Sea Lion Exclusion Devices

 Special devices that are fitted to commercial squid fishing boats, to help Sea Lions to escape if they are accidentally caught.

Snorkelling

 Swimming with a mask and snorkel to let you breath while you look around underwater.

Spawning ground

 An area where a species goes to breed.

Stakeholders

 Individuals or groups with an interest or involvement in something. For example, stakeholders in a snapper fishery could include: commercial fishers, customary fishers, recreational fishers and the Ministry of Fisheries. Each of these groups are involved in the fishery, and might want to have a say on decisions that are made about it.

Straddling fish stocks

 A fish stock that lives across both a country’s EEZ and the high seas.

Sustainable

 Kept at a level that will allow it to survive into the future.

Swim bladder

 Also known as a gas bladder or an air bladder, the swim bladder is a gas-filled sac inside a fish that helps it to control its buoyancy.

TAC / Total Allowable Catch

 This is the total amount (in tonnes) of fish stocks within the QMS that can be caught by fishers each year, whether they are recreational, customary, or commercial fishers.

TACC / Total Allowable Commercial Catch

 This sets out how much of the TAC for each fish stock can be caught by commercial fishers.

Tagging

Process where scientists catch fish record their physical characteristics, tag the fish and release them.  When fishers catch tagged fish they return the tags (and if possible the fish) with information on the fish and where the fish was caught.

Taiapure

 A taiapure is a local fishery area that has significance to iwi or hapū, either as sources of food or for spiritual or cultural reasons.

Tangata tiaki/kaitiaki

 People from certain iwi and hapū appointed to act as guardians of their rohe moana.

Tangata whenua

 People of the land.

Taonga

 Treasure.

Te Ohu Kaimoana

Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission - the agency responsible for allocating Maori fisheries quota.

Territorial sea

 The area of sea from the coastline of New Zealand out to 12 nautical miles.

Transducer

 A transducer is an electronic device that sends out a pulse of energy. When that pulse goes past a fish, it reflects the air in its swim bladder, which shows how far away the fish is.

Trawl surveys

Scientists catch fish with a trawl net and record what they catch and note the changes when they fish the same area later.

Trawler

 A type of commercial fishing boat, which tows a large net to catch fish.

Trawling

 Trawling is the most common commercial fishing method used in New Zealand waters. A fishing boat tows a large net behind it, sometimes in the middle of the water, and sometimes on the sea floor.

Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission

 Te Ohu Kaimoana – the agency responsible for allocating Maori fisheries quota.

Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992

Under the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act, in 1992, the Government gave Māori a cash settlement that was used to buy half of New Zealand’s biggest fishing company, Sealord.  This Act is sometimes called the “Sealord Deal”.

Whānau

 Family.