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Sea floor map around New Zealand

New Zealand’s 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 4.1 million square kilometres, which is fifteen times the land area of New Zealand itself. It is the seventh largest zone in the world, and combines unusually complex seascapes with many various marine life forms.

The coastline is 15,000 km long, punctuated with coastal estuaries. Coastal fisheries have access to a large continental shelf, and further afield are large continental rises. Jointly these relatively shallow fishing grounds occupy about thirty percent of the area of the EEZ.

In the fishing year 2006/07, New Zealand's fisheries captured 441,000 tonnes and earned $(NZ FOB) 1.3 billion in seafood exports. The aquaculture of mussels, salmon and oysters earned $226 million in exports. This made seafood the country’s fifth largest export earner. 1,316 commercial fishing vessels and 229 processors and licensed fish receivers employed 7,155 people.

There are about two tonnes of of fish in the New Zealand fisheries for every New Zealander. Just under ten percent of this stock is harvested each year. About 1,200,000 or 31 percent of New Zealanders engage, at least occasionally, in recreational fishing with an annual recreational take of about 25,000 tonnes.

History

In the 1970s New Zealand's fishing industry was largely an inshore affair. Offshore waters, beyond the then 12 nautical mile territorial sea, were fished by Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, and Soviet vessels. With the introduction of the 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone in 1977 and the introduction of the quota management system in 1986, many New Zealand companies went on to invest in fishing vessels to fish the available catch and onshore factories to process the catch. The industry has also grown from being a predominantly domestic supplier to one of the nation’s leading export industries. Over 90 percent of all fish landed is exported.

Deep-water fisheries

The fourth-largest fishing zone in the world: In 1978 New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was established as a 200-nautical-mile radius around the country. Since the 1960s the deep-water areas off New Zealand had been exploited by foreign vessels such as Russian, Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese trawlers. Internationally, as in New Zealand, the introduction of these zones was driven by countries wanting to protect their fish stocks from foreign fishing vessels and manage them themselves. Because its territory included the Chatham Islands and other outlying islands, New Zealand’s area was the fourth-largest fishing zone in the world (4 million square kilometres). New Zealand gained a huge potential resource. Due to the large catches made by foreign trawlers in those waters, hopes were high. With inshore fisheries over-exploited, it seemed obvious to search the depths for new species. In the northern hemisphere the collapse of the cod and other fisheries left trawlers lying idle. New Zealand companies were able to purchase them at bargain prices and refit them, or they took long-term leases on modern trawlers. The collapse of the northern hemisphere fisheries also created a gap in the international market for high-quality white-fleshed fish. New Zealand orange roughy and hoki fitted the bill.

Trawlers: Deep-water trawling is highly mechanised. Only big companies can afford the massive capital investment required in modern factory-trawlers. These factory ships process everything caught on board – even guts and heads are processed into fishmeal, which is so valuable it is known as ‘brown gold’. Because of the size of the investment, New Zealand companies embarked on joint ventures. Other nations’ trawling crews taught New Zealanders how to fish the deep waters and in return got a portion of the catch. Increasingly over the 1980s and 1990s, New Zealand companies bought their own vessels and began to fish the deep. They also chartered or leased foreign vessels. This practice caused some controversy in the early 2000s, with accusations that foreign crews were being underpaid. However, owners countered by saying they struggled to retain experienced crews, and foreign deckhands had to be brought in.

The fishery in the 2000s

Total catch: The total allowable catch in New Zealand waters in 2000 was 672,000 tonnes. Although the quota system was working well, attention focused on those 20% of fish species that were in decline. The Ministry of Fisheries had recovery plans for depleted stocks, but had a difficult task in enforcing its rules, especially in inshore fisheries.

Inshore stocks: Inshore species with commercial importance include crayfish (rock lobster), pāua (abalone), greenshell mussels and snapper. Snapper numbers off the North Island's west coast have dwindled. As little as 2% of snapper are older than 10 years, compared with 25%, 20 years ago. The total allowable catch has been reduced to allow stocks to recover. Rig shark or lemonfish (often cooked in batter in fish and chips) is also in decline. There is also increasing pressure from recreational fishers who compete with inshore commercial fishers for species such as kahawai and snapper.

Inshore operators: Inshore owner–operator fishermen with small boats are becoming uncommon. The high cost of fuel and equipment, and declining quota allocations along with increased government regulations and levies have squeezed out many. In the past, in many coastal communities fishing was a way of life; however, by the 2000s it was primarily a business, and many small operators could no longer compete with the larger fishing companies.

Deep-water stocks: Of about 130 species fished in New Zealand waters only 43 are commercially important. The gross tonnage and export revenue are most significant for deep-water fish, taken from depths of 200 to 1,200 metres – hoki, hake, orange roughy, ling, oreo dories, squid and silver warehou. Some, but not all, orange roughy stocks collapsed in the 1990s, and these have been closed to allow their renewal. Other deep-water stocks thought to be in jeopardy include hake (often caught with hoki) and oreo dory.

Quick growth: The New Zealand fishing industry has grown rapidly to become a major contributor to the nation’s economy. The major challenges faced by the industry are to ensure their contribution is sustainable and their impact on the marine environment is minimal. In 2005 the industry had probably reached its maximum level of harvest. It can only grow through finding new species to catch, or through aquaculture (fish farming). Increasing the value derived from the current level of harvest became a main focus of the fishing industry in the 1990s, and is likely to remain so into the future.

Today eight fishing companies provide 80 percent of production but there remain a number of medium and smaller, usually inshore, fishing operations. About 2200 individuals and companies own quota worth $3.5bn. There are over 1,500 commercial fishing vessels registered in New Zealand and 239 licensed fish receivers and processors.

Quota management system=

New Zealand led the world with its property-rights based quota management system (QMS) system when it was introduced in 1986. There are currently (2008) 129 species which are targeted commercially. Approximately 60 species groupings have QMS allowances for customary Maori fishers and there are a similar number for recreational fishers. The fisheries are managed through the Fisheries Act 1996, which sets out the rules and regulations and the QMS administered by the Ministry of Fisheries.

Who owns quota?: Only New Zealanders or New Zealand-owned companies can own fishing quota in New Zealand. Foreign ownership of shares in New Zealand quota-owning companies is strictly limited. However quota holders can lease foreign vessels to catch their allowance on their behalf. Small quota owners (especially in inshore fisheries) often sold their quotas to bigger companies in the 1990s. In the 2000s the industry was led by Sealord Fisheries, Sanford, and Talleys.

Quota value by species in million (NZ) dollars
Species	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Hoki	556	398	580	512	973	700	815	695	541	627	693
Spiny lobster	376	407	374	465	447	591	689	644	585	612	621
Paua	195	208	193	255	245	260	328	355	379	366	390
Snapper	272	191	185	197	249	282	298	282	258	226	252
Orange roughy	262	194	208	197	157	237	225	324	300	277	250
Ling	162	153	185	141	155	201	172	196	219	197	231
Arrow squid	140	76	136	132	81	52	103	240	138	298	170
Hake	102	100	112	109	106	108	141	147	123	188	141
Scampi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	116	125	117
Oreo	86	59	71	65	64	60	59	68	68	72	85
Other species	575	499	556	569	620	696	771	915	1,003	846	869

Vessel monitoring system

New Zealand has been running the Vessel monitoring system (VMS) since April 1994, with coverage out to the EEZ border under national and state agencies, with a target of 1000 vessels reporting every 2 hours. National & State Fisheries Agencies are responsible for the management of Fisheries located within its EEZ. Vessels use either Argos or Inmarsat-C to report position every 2 hours. The efficiency of the New Zealand fishing fleet has grown significantly over the years, with fewer vessels, reduced overcapacity and improved environmental performance.

Fishing grounds

External image
EEZ map

Chatham Rise

New Zealand is surrounded by a rich and unusually complex underwater typography.

New Zealand's most productive and important fishing ground is Chatham Rise. Warm subtropical surface waters from the north and cold subantarctic surface waters from the south meet in the vicinity of the Chatham Rise to create a subtropical front. Nutrient rich waters from the south mix with warm northern waters and create ideal conditions for plankton and the animals that feed on them. The fishing grounds near the subtropical front and particularly the Chatham Rise provide 60 percent of New Zealand’s fish catch. Because the Chatham Rise is relatively shallow, it is accessible to both midwater trawling and bottom trawling. Species include the main hoki, hake, ling, silver warehou, squid, orange roughy and deep sea (oreo) dory fisheries.

New Zealand’s west coast (mostly off the South Island) provides around 30 percent of our fish catch. Much of this occurs when fish gather there to spawn in winter and spring (e.g., hake, hoki, ling, silver warehou).

Over 15,000 marine species have been found living in these waters. Many migratory species visit New Zealand waters, and its isolation means there are also many species unique to New Zealand. Some marine mammals and seabird species depend on New Zealand breeding areas and feeding grounds for their existence.

Flow-on’ effects in fisheries The traditional way to manage fisheries is to focus on a single species - working out how much of this can be caught each year without affecting the breeding population and causing irreversible harm to the species. However, taking any fish has an effect on other marine life – on the things that eat the fish, and the things that are eaten by them. The government is now starting to look at these ‘flow-on’ effects, and how important they might be when managing fisheries. The Chatham Rise is our most productive and important fishing ground, and the Ministry of Fisheries has begun a three-year study there to learn more about the flow-on effects of fishing. Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) are working their way through more than 40,000 fish stomachs, to learn about the diets of different species across the Chatham Rise. When we combine this with similar diet studies for sea mammals and birds, and with other climate and ocean studies, we will have a better picture of how different parts of the Chatham Rise ecosystem fit together. This may help us better predict years of abundance in different fish stocks, and the effects our catches might be having on other species, including seabirds or marine mammals.

Seamounts

Some major New Zealand fisheries are supported by seamounts. These include several deepwater fish species, such as orange roughy and smooth oreo. Although most areas in the depth range 500–1000m have been fished, little is known about the real impacts of bottom trawling on seamounts. The most intensively fished seamounts are on the south Chatham Rise, which were fished for orange roughy in the 1980s and 1990s. Other seamounts are on the north Chatham Rise and the Challenger Plateau.

Farmed fisheries

The aquaculture industry in New Zealand has a bold future - and not just because of our ideal coastal topography, weather conditions and clean, unpolluted water.

Aquaculture is aquatic farming. In New Zealand, it takes place both in the sea and in land-based, man-made enclosures. New Zealand regulations require that any fish or aquatic life being farmed is kept separate from wild species, and that it is kept in the continuous possession or control of the farmer.

The New Zealand aquaculture industry began in the late 1960s and has grown to become one of the country’s largest export earners. Currently worth over $300 million to our national economy, the aquaculture industry is working to become a sustainable billion dollar business by 2025.

New Zealand's major aquaculture areas are Northland, Coromandel, Tasman and Golden Bays, Marlborough, Banks Peninsula and Stewart Island.

External image
Map of major aquaculture areas

gross tonnage of mussels harvested
Nelson/Marlborough	76,500
Firth of Thames	18,000
Stewart Island	2,500

Aquaculture Industry 2006
species	Harvest weight (tonnes)	Domestic sales (NZ$ millions)	Export sales (NZ$ millions)	Water space (hectares)	Farms (number)	Employed (number)
Greenshell™	97,000	$43	$181	4,747	645
King Salmon	7,721	$61	$34	>60	23
Pacific Oysters	2,800	$12	$16	750	230
Paua (Abalone)				20	18

About 2,500 persons are employed by the mussel industry, many in rural areas.

Land-based

The Ministry manages land-based farming under the provisions of the Freshwater Fish Farming Regulations 1983. The regulations cover both freshwater and marine species farmed on land. The species must be one that is approved for farming under these regulations. Under these regulations, you need to hold a fish-farm licence to farm an aquatic species for sale.

Marine

Marine aquaculture occurs in the sea, generally in the calm embayments of the coastal marine area such as the Firth of Thames and the Marlborough Sounds.

The main marine aquaculture activities in New Zealand are the farming of Greenshell™ mussels (Perna canaliculus), Pacific oysters (''Crassostrea gigas''), and king (or quinnat) salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytschca'').

Māori role

see Kiwa (mythology) Māori were provided with a substantial stake in commercial fishing as part of a Treaty Settlement. Under the [Treaty of Waitangi]] Māori were guaranteed “undisturbed possession” of their fisheries until they wished to dispose of them to the Crown. With the introduction of the QMS the government bought back 10 percent of the quota shares it had given to fishers and gave this to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, for the benefits of Māori. In 1992, the government gave Māori a cash settlement that was used to buy half of New Zealand’s biggest fishing company – Sealord. The government also gave Maori 20 percent of the commercial quota shares of any new species brought into the QMS.

Māori have built their commercial stake to a point where they now control or influence more than 30 percent of our commercial fisheries. In 2004, Parliament approved the distribution to iwi of substantial fisheries assets and this is now being implemented by Te Ohu Kai Moana. In addition, the Crown will provide Māori with the equivalent of 20 percent of all marine farming space created around New Zealand'ss coasts and harbours since 21 September 1992.

Conservation and sustainability

In the multicultural milieu that is New Zealand, there are few shared values about the use of fisheries resources. Widely divergent views, expectations and interests exist in relation to fisheries resources. There is growing demand for the sustainable management and protection of the aquatic environment. Alongside this interest is the benefit of maintaining a major industry based on fisheries, an industry which is the country’s fifth largest export product earner.

invasive species

Another potential threat to our marine environment is the introduction and spread of marine pests, like the seaweed undaria and the clubbed tunicate sea squirt.

Bycatch

Ecological issues: Another major challenge facing the industry is to reduce the impact on untargeted species. Efforts have been made to reduce by-catch by using exclusion devices on squid-fishing nets to prevent sea lions from getting caught. There are methods to discourage albatrosses and other seabirds from taking longline hooks. And technology has allowed more accurate targeting of fish schools to ensure that fewer non-commercial fish varieties are caught in nets.

The government and industry have recently worked hard to reduce seabird deaths in our fisheries. As a result, we have seen huge drops in seabird deaths in the tuna and ling auto-line fisheries. We expect to soon see a drop in seabird deaths in our squid and hoki fisheries, through some recent actions by the government and industry.

• Hector's and Maui's dolphins

Hector's Dolphin at Kaikoura, New Zealand

In New Zealand, these dolphins have a high rate of entanglement. Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) is endemic to the coastal waters New Zealand and there are about 7,400 in abundance. A small population of Hector’s dolphins is isolated on the west coast of the island and have been declared a subspecies called Maui's Dolphin. Maui's dolphins (Cephalofhynchus hectori maui) are often caught in set nets and pair trawlers resulting in less than 100 left in the wild. For protection, a section of the dolphin’s range on the west coast has been closed to gillnet fisheries.

• Dolphin decision broadly welcomed - but risks remain. ECO: May 29, 2008.
• Draft Hector's and Maui's Dolphin Threat Management Plan. ECO: September 10, 2007
• Hector's and Maui's dolphin. NZ Seafood Industry Council’s submission. 29 June 2008.

land run-off

Many other types of human activities can potentially damage the marine environment. One of the greatest threats is runoff from the land. This includes sediment and nutrients being carried down rivers from farmland, forestry and other land development. In some coastal areas, these effects may be greater than the effects of fishing.

Soil and nutrient run-off from the land can have huge effects on our coastal ecosystems. Recent research, done by NIWA] for the Ministry of Fisheries, shows that with more sediment in the water, fewer baby paua and kina survive. It also shows that sediment affects the tiny animals living on kelp. As these are a major food supply for other rocky reef species, it seems that high sediment levels will reduce the productivity of whole rocky reef ecosystems, and affect catches of important recreational, customary, and commercial species.

Marine reserves

The government is setting up a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to protect examples of different marine habitats and ecosystems, as well as those that are outstanding or rare. Some areas are already protected by marine reserves, Fisheries Act closures, and cable protection zones. These have each been set up to achieve slightly different things, and so are not integrated in any structured way.

The New Zealand Government (as are other governments) is waging a war against its own people, a war that will cost the nation dearly for no measurable benefit in return. Based on the failed ideology of proponents of marine reserves, the Government wants to set aside 10-30% of the sea, and close it for all fishing forever. This despite the fact that fishing is no longer the main threat to our coastal seas. But land-based pollution now causes irreparable damage to thousands of species for whom marine reserves do not provide protection. The only way to save our seas is by saving the land first. Read this incredible account of how society has its priorities wrong and how science has failed society, for the blame rests entirely with environmental and marine scientists. This web site details the problem of the world's seas from mismanagement of our soils, to the effects of runoff, the damage it causes to the sea and how eutrophication works. Although this account is about the situation in New Zealand, its principles apply world-wide.

• Category:Marine reserves of New Zealand
• Government drops the ball on marine protection. ECO: February 14, 2008
• Marine Reserves. NZ Seafood Industry Council. Not dated. Retrieved 14 June 2008.

Maritime protection

HMNZS Rotoiti

Four new inshore patrol vessels and two offshore patrol vessels are currently fitting out for the Royal New Zealand Navy. These vessels will be available for the maritime protection of New Zealand's EEZ fishing zones.

Timeline

1300s- — Arrival of Māori

1642 — Tasman is first European to reach New Zealand.

1769 — New Zealand mapped by James Cook, and the Norway rat believed to have arrived in New Zealand aboard his ship, the Endeavour. 1790s — Sealers and whalers arrive.

1800s

1867

• Trout and Salmon Protection Act passed - made provision for "the preservation and propagation of Salmon and Trout in this Colony".

1875

• Seal hunting restricted to a short annual season.

1893

• Rainbow trout successfully introduced by the Auckland Acclimatisation Society.

1894

• Protection of fur seal population due to declining numbers.

1900s

1967

• Rudd is illegally introduced into New Zealand.

1971

• CoEnCo formed

1976

• CoEnCo renamed as ECO

1977

• The "Territorial Sea and Exclusive Economic Zone Act" is passed.

1979

• 1 January — Marine Mammals Protection Act came into force.

1983

• 1 October — Fisheries Act comes into force (establishes a fishing quota system).

1986

• Environment Act passed (establishes Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE)) ]
• Quota Management System (QMS) introduced to conserve fish stocks within the Exclusive Economic Zone.

1987

• 1 April — Conservation Act comes into force (establishes DoC, Fish and Game)

1990

• Creation of Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. ]
• Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is formed.

1994

• Fisheries Act 1996 is passed (though parts of it come into force only spasmodically over the next few years).

1998

• Creation of New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands World Heritage site.

2000s

2000

• Moratorium on new marine farming applications, initially for two years.

2003

• 26 May — Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry for the Environment, and Fonterra sign the Dairying and Clean Streams Accord.
• 11 September - Environment Minister addresses pollution in the Rotorua lakes.

2004

• Rock snot, (Didymosphenia geminata), an invasive freshwater weed is found in some New Zealand rivers.
• Nitrates an increasing problem in Canterbury's groundwater.
• 8 February - 13,000 litre diesel spill in Milford Sound.
• 31 December — Moratorium on marine farms lifted after the passing of the Aquaculture Reform Bill. [2]

2005

• 1 May — Pesticides blamed for killing native frogs.
• 28 July — First criminal conviction for killing a fur seal is handed down.
• September - Rock snot found in the Buller River. [3]

2006

• 26 January - New Zealand is rated top in the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index.
• February - The New Zealand fishing industry proposes limits on bottom trawling.
• 24 October - The WWF Living Planet report ranks New Zealand with the ninth largest per capita ecological footprint. [4] [5]
• 30 November - Great white sharks will be protected within New Zealand's EEZ from April 2007. [6]

2007

• 4 April - Bottom trawling prohibited in selected areas.
• 30 November - The orange roughy fishery is closed to allow stocks of the fish to recover.

2008

• 31 January - Environment New Zealand 2007, a State of the Environment report, is released.

See also

• Category:Molluscs of New Zealand
• Category:Marine reserves of New Zealand

References

• KELLY Lock, Kelly and Leslie, Stefan (2007) New Zealand's Quota Management System: A History of the First 20 Years. Motu Working Paper No 07-02.
• Paulin, Chris D. "Pagrus auratus, a new combination for the species known as "snapper" in Australasian waters (Pisces: Sparidae)". New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 1990, 24:259-265. http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjmfr/1990/26.php
• Tregear, E R (1891)Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary. Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay.
• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Lutjanidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• *Allan, Richard (1990). Australian Fish and How to Catch Them. Landsdowne Publishing. ISBN 1-86302-674-6.
• Snapper entry "SNAPPER - 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand". Retrieved 2006-07-22. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
• "Species Summary for Chrysophrys auratus". Retrieved 2006-07-22.
• Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 978-0-00-216987-5
• Pitcher, T.J., Morato, T., Hart, P.J.B., Clark, M.R., Haggan, N. and Santos, R.S. (eds) (2007) Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation. Fish and Aquatic Resources Series 12, Blackwell, Oxford, UK. 527pp. ISBN 978-1-4051-3343-2
• WWF Species Programme (2004) Cetacean bycatch and the IWC

External links

• NZ Ministry of Fisheries: Student and teacher resource
• Vulnerability of deep sea corals to fishing on seamounts beyond areas of national jurisdiction Report authored by Clark et al. (2006)

• MacDiarmid, Alison and Smith, Franz. Introduction. Treasures of the sea. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
• Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand: Fishing Industry Proposals are of low conservation value.
• Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand: High Seas Bottom Trawl Controls Welcomed. April 24, 2008

• Seafriends: Why is New Zealand so special?

• New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries
• Recreational fishing - Know the limits
• Status of New Zealand Fisheries
• National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research
• Seafood Industry Council
• statistics
• Aquaculture New Zealand
• Aquaculture govt.nz
• [7]
• New Zealand Sea Life

[Category:Fishing by country|New Zealand]]