Update – 23 July 2025
Minister's decision*
Following this consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries granted consent for Pelco NZ Limited to hold quota shares for kahawai and blue mackerel having a quota weight equivalent less than or equal to 45.993% of the total allowable commercial catch for kahawai and 55.304% of the total allowable commercial catch for blue mackerel, subject to conditions.
The minister’s decision letter provides further detail and reasons for this decision.
The decision letter: Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [PDF, 215 KB]
*Note: The minister's decision letter was updated on 16 September 2025.
Consultation background
Fisheries New Zealand sought feedback from persons or organisations having an interest in a blue mackerel (EMA) and kahawai (KAH) quota aggregation limit exemption application.
The application was from Pelco NZ Limited.
The requests were to hold:
- 45.993% of all KAH quota
- 55.304% of all EMA quota.
Submissions closed at 5pm on 29 November 2024.
About the application
The Fisheries Act 1996 contains provisions that place restrictions on the amount of quota that may be owned by any one person or entity. These restrictions are called aggregation limits.
For blue mackerel, the aggregation limit is 45%, and for kahawai, it is 35% of the combined total allowable commercial catches (TACCs) for each stock.
Section 60 of the Fisheries Act 1996 makes the provision for the Minister of Fisheries to consent to persons holding quota in excess of such aggregation limits, following consultation.
In 2020, Pelco NZ Limited submitted a similar application under section 60 of the Fisheries Act 1996. Following public consultation, that application was declined in August 2022.
This new application was largely the same as the 2020 application, however, it did not include the previously requested additional 5% of quota for both species, to act as a buffer from any future TAC/TACC reductions that may inadvertently result in the aggregation limits being exceeded.
Consultation on Pelco NZ Limited’s 2020 application
Consultation document
Pelco NZ Limited application to hold quota above aggregation limits [PDF, 11 MB]
Additional and separate documents provided alongside the application were not included as part of this consultation.
