Proposed amendments to commercial fishing regulations

Update – 20 March 2026

Decisions announced on 2 proposals

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has announced decisions on 2 of the proposals consulted on as part of the package of 19 proposed regulatory changes.

Proposal reference number	Proposal overview	Summary of decisions
2	Providing for the ability to sell certain non-Quota Management System species (‘reef fish’) taken in FMAs 1 and 9 if taken by certain commercial fishing methods, not including set netting	Maintain the status quo, that is, not progress the proposal.
5	Providing for dead marlin caught by commercial fishers in monitored fisheries to be landed	Maintain the status quo, that is, not progress with the proposal to allow commercial operators to land dead marlin in monitored fisheries.

Government media releases

Ban on retaining reef fish bycatch remains – Beehive

Changes proposed for deemed value of fish – Beehive (including minister's decision on the proposal for marlin bycatch)

Consultation background

Fisheries New Zealand sought feedback on a package of 19 proposed changes, mostly to commercial fishing regulations. Most changes were proposed by representatives of the commercial fishing industry as a means to remove redundant regulations and regulations that are overly complex, duplicative, or impose unnecessary compliance costs. Fisheries New Zealand assessed these proposals and consulted on those outlined in the consultation document.

Consultation opened on 20 October and closed at 5pm on 28 November 2025.

This work was related to the wider fisheries reform work programme. Other work as part of the reform has related to changes to the Fisheries Act 1996. The changes we were consulting on here were related but different, as they focused on changes to the commercial fishing regulations.

Consultation document

Discussion document [PDF, 2.5 MB]

What was proposed?

Summary document [PDF, 156 KB]

Related consultation

Fisheries reform: proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act

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Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation

Proposed amendments to commercial fishing regulations

Closing date

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