Profiles
Ministers responsible for the Ministry of Fisheries
Minister of Fisheries
Hon Jim Anderton
Associate Minister of Fisheries
Hon Parekura Horomia
Fisheries Management
Chief Executive
Wayne McNee
Wayne was the Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC), a position he had held since 2001, and was seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
After completing a Bachelors degree in Pharmacy at Otago University in 1985, Wayne undertook a series of pharmacy roles both in New Zealand and England before taking up the Therapeutic Group Manager role at PHARMAC in July 1995. He then followed a career pathway within PHARMAC culminating in his appointment as Chief Executive. In 1998 Wayne was awarded a post graduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy at Otago University and he has undertaken leadership, management and strategic leadership programmes at Oxford University and Stanford Business School.
Deputy Chief Executive
Stan Crothers
Stan Crothers has been the Deputy Chief Executive for the last 12 years. He has had direct responsibility for the management of front-line businesses such as Policy, Fisheries Operations, Compliance and Science. Stan has worked in the Ministry for over 30 years and has international, policy, regulatory, compliance and machinery of government expertise. He has worked in New Zealand and the USA and provided fisheries management advice to Chile, Argentina, Kenya, Australia, Pacific Island states and FAO. He has also been involved in State Sector reform, establishing the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone, designing and implementing New Zealand’s successful Quota Management System, and leading the establishment of the Ministry of Fisheries.
More recently he has worked on developing institutional frameworks to decentralise fisheries services, and has been involved in policy development, including cost recovery, defining and protecting customary fishing rights, aquaculture reform, recreational reform, and Oceans Policy.
General Manager, Corporate Services
Peter Murray
Peter joined the Ministry in 1999 and has since led work on a number of major corporate projects including the outsourcing of registry services, cost recovery, and most recently implementation of the Aquaculture Settlement obligations. Prior to joining the Ministry, Peter held executive responsibility for corporate functions in the Wellington Area Health Board, then Capital Coast Heath limited. Prior to this Peter held numerous roles in IBM New Zealand and IBM Australia, P&O Shipping and Deloittes. Peter graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in the mid 1970’s with a BCA, and is a Chartered Accountant. He has an ANZSoG Executive Masters in Public Administration.
Manager Fisheries Policy
Mark Edwards
Mark joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1988 following completion of a Masters in Marine Science. He has managed various teams in regulatory, operational, policy and legislative reform areas since 1991. In late 2000, he took up the position of Policy and Treaty Strategy Manager in the Ministry (now under the title of Manager Fisheries Policy).
Mark has led a range of reform processes, chaired a wide variety of domestic management fora with stakeholders, and represented the Ministry both in interdepartmental fora and with Ministers and Select Committees. In previous roles Mark also led delegations representing New Zealand at international fora.
Manager International
Jane Willing
Jane joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1991 and has managed various teams including Maori Fisheries, Aquaculture, Biosecurity and Recreational Fisheries.
Since 1992 Jane has managed the International Fisheries team. In this capacity she has led a number of New Zealand delegations in international negotiations, and chaired several Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) workshops and meetings. Jane has a degree in International Relations and Political Science, and is a Harvard Executive Fellow. Before joining the Ministry she held positions in Parliamentary Services in specialist areas of International Relations and Defence.
Manager Corporate Development; Acting National Manager Fisheries Compliance
Steve Kelly
Steve joined the Ministry of Fisheries in January 2005. Initially responsible for the Observer programme, he was appointed National Manager Fisheries Sciences in September 2005.
Prior to joining the Ministry, Steve worked for Fonterra where he was based mainly in the Middle East and Asia. His initial roles with the company were in sales and marketing. Later he took up positions with operating company and regional management responsibilities. On his return to New Zealand Steve managed the Fonterra supply chain team responsible for the technical and logistical servicing of Fonterra's global ingredients customers. Steve has extensive commercial experience including organisational process design and financial management.
National Manager Fisheries Operations
Jonathan Peacey
Jonathan was appointed to this position in September 2005. He has worked in the fisheries sector for over 20 years in various roles including Fisheries Manager in the Ministry’s Dunedin office, Assistant General Manager of the New Zealand Fishing Industry Board, Acting Science Manager of the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council, Fisheries Director of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), based in London, and Chief Policy Analyst with the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.
He has also worked as a consultant for a range of fisheries clients. Key projects on which he has worked include implementation of the Quota Management System (QMS), designing and implementing the rock lobster tail width gauge, developing scoring guidelines for assessing fisheries against MSC standards, and developing the Ministry’s Strategy for Managing the Environmental Effects of Fishing.
Chief Scientist
Pamela Mace
Pamela joined the Ministry as special projects scientist in February 2004, and was promoted to chief scientist in February 2005. Pamela’s main areas of expertise are fish stock assessments, the development and implementation of fisheries harvest strategies, ecosystem approaches to fisheries and the development of criteria for defining species at risk.
Pamela has been involved in the field of fisheries science for more than 25 years. She spent nine years studying and working in Canada, where she earned a PhD from the University of British Columbia. Pamela returned to New Zealand in 1986 for two years - in time to be involved in the scientific aspects of implementation of the QMS - and then spent 15 years in the United States working in fisheries in various capacities.
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Laplanche
Paul joined the Ministry of Fisheries in December 2004 as the Manager, Finance and his role was later enhanced to that of Chief Financial Officer. Over this period, Paul’s main focus has been on improving the Ministry’s financial management framework which has included upgrading the Ministry’s financial system, providing additional financial support to Ministry managers and enhancing the Ministry’s planning, financial and reporting processes.
Paul graduated from Canterbury University in 1990 with a BComm and is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Treasury Professional. Paul started his career in the Audit, Insurance and Banking areas. Paul then worked for over a decade within the local government environment in a number of finance roles including Manager, Finance at the Wellington Regional Council. Over this time Paul was involved in a number of significant projects ranging from implementing legislative reform to arranging the funding for the Regions contribution to the Wellington Stadium.