Owen Symmans: Sustainability no dirty word to NZ fishers

Our seafood industry is a New Zealand success story. A major exporter - the fifth largest in the country - we produce enough seafood to make one billion meals each year for seafood lovers around the world.

And we are recognised internationally as a pioneer in sustainable fisheries management systems and for innovative environmental practices.

Small on a world scale, accounting for less than 1 per cent of global production and 2 per cent of global sales, our seafood industry earned over $1.2 billion last year and supports over 26,000 jobs domestically. It has the potential to keep growing through innovation to optimise the harvest, and development of the aquaculture sector.

We operate under the most legislated catch management system in the world - the Quota Management System (QMS) and we lead the world in our commitment to sustainable fishing. This should not come as any surprise to other primary industries or any sensible business person. The industry has thrived in the past and will continue to do so simply because it makes good business sense to protect your product future through sustainable fishing.

This is sustainable fishing, not gold mining, and just as no farmer would sell all his stock one season and then wonder why he had no lambs the next, nor would a fisherman exploit fish stocks so there is no product for coming years. For the seafood industry, it is in our interest to carefully maintain our fisheries - it is a commercial consideration we cannot and would not ignore.

Unlike nearly all other fishing nations, our industry receives no Government subsidies and bears the $35 million-plus annual cost of running the commercial fisheries and management and research systems. That investment is a powerful motivator for commitment and compliance from the industry, not to mention the drive for commercial viability of our fisheries using a long-term, sustainable strategy.

New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) covers 2.2 million square kilometres. It ranges over 30 degrees of latitude from the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands and is the world's fourth largest in area. Only about 35 per cent is fished, as much of the area is too deep or is otherwise unsuitable for fishing.

The industry, which is made up of some 2500 enterprises ranging from family-owned businesses to publicly listed companies, spends $20 million each year on fisheries management research. Much of this is expended on assessing fish stocks and identifying best environmental management and sustainable harvest practices. This is stewardship, not plunder. We have an investment in this industry and nobody wants to see that dissipated. Twenty-five years ago two-thirds of New Zealand's mid- and deep-water fisheries lay largely undeveloped, while aquaculture was a far off dream of marine farm pioneers. It's a very different picture today. We are proud to be recognised as a world leader in fisheries management through strict adherence to comprehensive operating and control regimes and best environmental practice.

Sustainability and environmental protection are commercial issues as well as philosophical ones. They are not dirty words in our industry. Instead they are viewed as another challenge in our daily routine. It's something that is talked about all the time. There is a sense of ownership of the issues and the knowledge that we have an input into the process. And a clear understanding that the future is entirely dependent upon the way we fish and farm today. We know that future will be there for us, our children and our children's children.

* Owen Symmans is chief executive of the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council.