Report wants hoki quota slashed

The Fisheries Ministry has recommended quota cuts for the country's most abundant commercial fishery.

The move will trim the export earnings of major fishing companies.

The recommendation for cuts to the hoki fishery - which makes up 40 per cent of New Zealand's total finfish catch and is estimated to have earned $311 million last year - are made in a paper put together by the Ministry of Fisheries. They could take effect from October.

Labelled an Initial Position Paper, the document details options to Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson. It says cuts are needed because the outlook for hoki stocks is pessimistic.

Environmental conditions have hit spawning levels, and stocks will decline if present catch levels are allowed to continue.

Mr Hodgson will make a decision on the cut after speaking to the industry and other stakeholders.

One option in the paper suggests that the present allowable hoki catch of 250,000 tonnes be reduced by 40 per cent to 150,000 tonnes.

But Fisheries Ministry staff acknowledge that such a move would have a severe impact on the industry, and instead recommend a reduction of 20 per cent, to 200,000 tonnes.

Hoki is recognised as one of the most crucial species in the fishing industry. It is sold to restaurants, hotels, and producers of branded, convenience products.

Sanford managing director Eric Barratt told the Business Herald yesterday that the industry supported reducing the hoki quotas.

"We'll take a cut ... but we will try to minimise it by utilising vessels on perhaps less utilised species, or looking for higher prices ... "

The Hoki Fishery Management Company, which represents all quota owners, said it was time for the industry to haul on the reins.

Sealord, the country's largest hoki quota holder, said the expected cut would affect export earnings, but it had been expected.

Chief executive Phil Lough said Sealord's business had always been planned on the basis of a 200,000-tonne total allowable catch.