This report examines the psychological, social and other factors that determine farmers' different responses to environmental change. In particular, it is designed to explain why some farmers implement environmental strategies but others remain intransigent and resistant to change.

Research and analysis to underpin and support climate change policy implementation, forest management decision-making and future policy development. Build future capacity by having final year BForSc students carry out basic analysis as Management Case Studies.

Results from a yield per recruit and spawning stock biomass per recruit (YPR/SSBR) analyses show that, under the current commercial and recreational MLS, the optimum fishing mortality (F40%) is 0.10–0.12; this equating to a total mortality (Z) for ages older than 7 years of 0.3. Kingfish stock boundaries are poorly understood making an improved understanding of stock structure a high research priority.

The publication of the latest Fisheries Assessment Plenary report in May 2014 represents the 30th consecutive year that such reports have been produced. In recognition of this milestone, a Supplement to the Plenary to celebrate 30+ years of fisheries science has been produced. The Supplement acknowledges the scientists and other players who have made it all happen and also contains a number of short articles ranging over a variety of topics of general interest.

Information has been withheld from these documents pursuant to ss 6 & 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Where information has been withheld under s 9 of the Act, the public interest test in s 9(1) has been applied, and the withholding of that information was not considered to be outweighed by other considerations making it desirable in the public interest to release the information.

Information has been withheld from these documents pursuant to ss 6 & 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Where information has been withheld under s 9 of the Act, the public interest test in s 9(1) has been applied, and the withholding of that information was not considered to be outweighed by other considerations making it desirable in the public interest to release the information.

Information has been withheld from these documents pursuant to ss 6 & 9 of the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Where information has been withheld under s 9 of the Act, the public interest test in s 9(1) has been applied, and the withholding of that information was not considered to be outweighed by other considerations making it desirable in the public interest to release the information.

Classroom resource

The trawl footprint describes how much seabed area has been contacted by trawling gear in New Zealand’s territorial sea (TS) and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but it does not provide a measure of the effect of fishing on seabed communities.

This project used the trawl footprint information, in addition to other sources of information on impacts of contact by trawl gear on seabed fauna, to quantify the potential impacts to seabed communities and habitats.

Fishing gear types were first described and categorised, and footprints for each category of gear were produced. Two published impact assessment methods were applied to the TS and EEZ. The methods had different strengths and weaknesses and the outputs of the two methods were found to be complementary to one another.

The first method applied, the MRSP approach, combines information on gear categories, expert opinion on the vulnerability of seabed fauna to trawl gear, and the bottom contact footprint of trawl fishing. This approach does not consider how the fauna recover over time.

The second method, the relative benthic status (RBS) approach, uses information on the proportion of the seabed area swept by trawls and published information for depletion and recovery rates for seabed fauna considered to be particularly vulnerable to trawling. This method predicts a future state for the seabed fauna assuming no change to fishing effort.

This project provides outputs for both methods that can be used in conjunction with distribution data for seabed fauna to assess impacts of trawling and inform spatial planning processes.

Recognising the shortcomings of the MRSP and RBS approaches, two further approaches were explored and developed using data from the Chatham Rise. One approach aimed to enhance the RBS method by making this more relevant to local seabed fauna by using bycatch data from the Chatham Rise instead of relying on information from international sources. The results were encouraging but indicated that further method development is required.

The second approach expanded a previously applied spatio-temporal modelling approach to assess impacts to fauna thought to be useful indicators of potential trawling effects. It was found that this approach, as with the others, was limited by the available data, and further development is required to improve the utility of this approach in the future.

Applied adaptation pathways provide a useful framework for strategic planning for primary industries. This report describes the ways in which climate change will affect primary industries in Hawke’s Bay. The regional pathway method provides insight into how decision taken in one domain/sector can have an impact on others, and how the region can prioritise action.

This paper seeks Cabinet’s agreement to mandatory fortification of non-organic bread-making wheat flour with folic acid to reduce New
Zealand’s high level of neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida.