National Party president Peter Goodfellow leaves the National caucus room during any discussion about the fishing industry to avoid any conflict of interest, Prime Minister John Key says.
Mr Goodfellow has significant interests in fishing company Sanfords, which holds about a quarter of the total fishing quota in New Zealand.
Mr Key was asked about National's closeness to the commercial fishing industry today after a contract to monitor the commercial fleet was awarded to a business whose general partner was owned by fishing companies - one of which is Sanfords.
Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference, the Prime Minister said Mr Goodfellow was "immensely careful about managing any conflict of interest".
"I've never had a discussion about fisheries matters," he said.