This study presents an updated risk assessment of the impact of fishing-related mortalities on 70 of the seabird species that breed in the New Zealand region, based on data from 2006–07 to 2012–13. Eleven species were found to be at “high” or “very high risk” of population declines as a result of fisheries mortalities. Black petrel was the species most at risk, and other seabirds with a high risk ranking included species of albatross, petrel, and shearwater.

This brochure is in Chinese and outlines the menace of kauri dieback disease, what is happening to New Zealand's kauri trees, and what is being done to prevent spread of this disease.

This brochure outlines the menace of kauri dieback disease, what is happening to New Zealand's kauri trees, and what is being done to prevent spread of this disease.

An assessment of the scientific information leads to the conclusion that cattle semen and embryos can be imported safely without risking the introduction of BSE. This opinion is held widely by experts who have researched BSE.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) conducts regular checks for marine pests in a number of high-risk marine areas around the country and has been doing so since 2002. The focus of this surveillance is the early detection of a number of pests that are not known to be in New Zealand, and we are actively trying to keep out.

The overall finding of the Review is that the Programme is well run and resourced, and generally progressing toward its intended outcomes. It is too early for most areas to determine certainty of successful attainment of outcomes. A go/stop gating approach and ‘fast fail’ methodology is being applied to facilitate the projects through their stages. Two outcome areas are highly unlikely to be met other than as a by-product of other projects, and should be revised.

Ensuring the safety of the food we sell, whether it’s produced here, imported, or exported, is essential as a nation. Everyone working in the food industry has responsibilities to make sure that the food we buy is safe and suitable to eat, whether that involves growing and harvesting crops, the food manufacturing process, or preparation and sale of food at shops, cafés or restaurants.

This Primary Growth Partnership newsletter informs stakeholders and interested parties about PGP activities while also profiling one of the current PGP programmes in each issue.

Newsletter from the National Biocontainment Laboratory

This report describes an in-fishing season dredge survey of scallops (Pecten novaezelandiae) conducted from 7–9 October 2015 in three key fishery areas (Guards Bay, Ship Cove, and Dieffenbach Point) in the Marlborough Sounds within the Southern scallop stock, SCA 7. The survey provided estimates of the current status of scallop beds within the three areas, and compared those estimates with relevant estimates from the May 2015 survey of SCA 7 and with recent fine scale commercial catch data.

The pāua data-logger data collection programme is an industry-led initiative to achieve monitoring of the fishery. The loggers collect fine-scale dive and position data from free-diving fishers. In this study, we provide a first analysis of the data obtained from the programme, characterising its uptake and coverage in the fishery and use linear mixed models to investigate the importance of dive patterns for reported catch. Bottom time was found to be the best predictor of catches within QMAs.

Annual Report of information on potentially foodborne diseases in New Zealand 2014

MPI Technical Paper 2015/37. This report examines whether oxidised fish oils pose any risk of toxicity when consumed, and in particular whether there is any risk to the fetus when consumed during pregnancy.