Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones speaks to the media live from Wellington. Video / NZ Herald
The Government is seeking public feedback on “the most significant reforms” of New Zealand’s fisheries for decades.
Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones released a consultation document this morning, which he said “set out options to strengthen, streamline, and add to the tools available to set sustainable catch limits,improve privacy protections for fishers on vessels with onboard cameras, and more effectively deal with fish discarded under the Quota Management System”.
The proposal includes barring footage from vessels from being included in Official Information Act requests.
Jones said he did not believe the public needed to know what was happening on vessels: “Does the public have a right to know what’s happening in every cow shed tonight? Does the public have a right to know what’s happening on every egg farm? Does the public have a right to know what’s happening in your home? No they don’t.
Shane Jones, Cabinet Minister and NZ First No 2, in his Beehive office, Parliament, Wellington.
Other proposed changes include policy on keeping records of fish caught and fish thrown back to sea, and keeping records of fishery stocks.
“How do we accurately report fish that may be lost and discard policy? This document lays out a host of options which the industry, the officials, and myself, want in the public. Number 1, should the industry continue to be forced, if through poor management, to bring back fish beyond their entitlement to land; or, if there are cameras on your boats, and vast number of boats have cameras now.”
Jones said the consultation document reflected the fact all coalition Government partners campaigned on different policies.
“No person of any significance in the fishing industry of New Zealand goes out there to deliberately undermine the sustainability of the resource that underpins the value of the quota and our industry.”
The consultation document also includes proposals around rahui in certain areas when fishery stocks are stressed or low.
The changes would see amendments to the Fisheries Act. It includes three parts: “Proposals to improve responsiveness, efficiency and certainty of decision making; greater protection for on-board camera footage and ensuring the onboard camera programme is workable; and implementing new rules for commercial fishers that set out when QMS [Quota Management System] fish must be landed and when they can return to sea.”
Feedback closes on March 28.
The New Zealand First minister has spoken to the Herald about his promise to be a “forceful” advocate for the $5 billion commercial fishing industry in the past.
Jones is the former chairman of the seafood company Sealord and was a one-time member of the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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