Review of sustainability measures for fisheries – April 2023 round

Updates

26 September 2023 – Gazette notice to prohibit commercial dredging for kina in Tory Channel

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries approved a Gazette Notice under the Fisheries Act 1996 to prohibit commercial dredging for kina in Tory Channel.

Fisheries (Tory Channel Commercial Kina Dredging Prohibition) Notice 2023 [PDF, 70 KB]

21 September 2023 – Minister’s decision on commercial kina dredging in Kura te Au / Tory Channel released

Following the consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has made decisions on changes to commercial kina dredging for Kura te Au / Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds from 1 October 2023.

Summary of the minister’s decision

Species	Area	Change	Decision summary
Kina	Kura te Au / Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds	Prohibition of commercial dredging for kina under section 11 of the Fisheries Act 1996.	Commercial dredging for kina is prohibited in the Tory Channel from 1 October 2023.

Decision letter and advice paper

The decision letter – Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [PDF, 59 KB]

Review of commercial kina dredging in Kura te Au/Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds – Fisheries New Zealand decision paper [PDF, 1.1 MB]

31 August 2023 – Minister’s decisions for the central and lower North Island pāua fishery (PAU 2) released

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has made decisions on sustainability measures for the central and lower North Island pāua fishery (PAU 2).

The decisions for PAU 2

30 March 2023 – Minister’s decisions for Northland rock lobster fishery (CRA 1) released

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has made decisions on sustainability measures for the Northland rock lobster fishery (CRA 1).

We have released:

Summary of the minister's decisions

Species	Stock (area)	Change	Decision summary
Spiny rock lobster (crayfish)	CRA 1 Northland	↓	Reduce the TAC from 193 to 172 tonnes. Reduce the TACC from 105 to 89 tonnes. Retain the allowance for customary Māori fishing at 20 tonnes. Retain the allowance for all other sources of mortality caused by fishing at 41 tonnes. Reduce the allowance for recreational fishing from 27 to 22 tonnes Reduce the recreational daily bag limit for spiny rock lobster in CRA 1 from 6 to 3 per person.
			The minister has also directed Fisheries New Zealand to provide advice by July 2023 on addressing the issue of kina barrens, including consideration of measures such as a maximum legal size, Quota Management Area splitting, spatial restrictions, and targeting culling of kina.

Decision letter and advice paper

The minister's decision letter provides further details and reasons for the decisions.

CRA 1 Decision letter – Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [PDF, 2.2 MB]

Review of sustainability measures for spiny rock lobster (CRA 1) for 2023/24 [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Recent judgments from the High Court of New Zealand and Environment Court of New Zealand were provided as an addendum to the decision paper (the review).

The Environmental Law Initiative v Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [2022] NZHC 2969

Bay of Islands Maritime Park Incorporated v Northland Regional Council [2022] NZEnvC 228

Public submissions received on the CRA 1 and SCA CS proposals

Review of submissions, part 1 [PDF, 13 MB]

Review of submissions, part 2 [PDF, 8.9 MB]

Timeline for other decisions

For other proposals that were consulted on as part of this round, the minister will make decisions later in the year (expected June 2023). This includes decisions on:

proposed changes to catch limits, allowances, and recreational daily bag limits for pāua across the lower and central North Island (PAU 2), and
proposed measures to restrict dredging for kina in Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds.

17 March 2023 – Minister's decisions for Coromandel scallop fishery (SCA CS) released

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has made decisions on sustainability measures for the Coromandel scallop fishery (SCA CS).

We have released:

the minister's decision letter and SCA CS advice paper
a summary of the decisions.

Summary of the minister's decisions

Species	Stock (area)	Change	Decision summary
Scallop	SCA CS – Coromandel, Hauraki Gulf and Western Bay of Plenty	S11 closure, TAC ↓	Closure of Little Barrier and Colville to scallop fishing under s11 of the Act (all of SCA CS is now closed to commercial and recreational scallop fishing). Reduce the TAC from 19 to 11 tonnes. Retain the allowance for customary Māori fishing at 10 tonnes. Reduce allowance for recreational fishing from 3 to 0 tonnes. Maintain the allowance for all other sources of mortality caused by fishing at 1 tonne. Reduce the TACC from 5 to 0 tonnes.

Decision letter and advice paper

The minister's decision letter provides further details and reasons for the decisions.

SCA CS decision letter – Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [PDF, 181 KB]
Review of sustainability measures for the 2023 April round – Fisheries New Zealand decision paper [PDF, 1.1 MB]

Other decisions for this round

The minister's decisions for the Northland rock lobster fishery (CRA 1) will be released separately in the coming weeks. When the CRA 1 decisions are released, this web page will be updated with the relevant decision letter and a full copy of submissions received. This will also include submissions received on the Coromandel scallop proposal.

For other proposals that were consulted on as part of this round, the minister will make decisions later in the year (expected June 2023). This includes decisions on:

proposed changes to catch limits, allowances, and recreational daily bag limits for pāua across the lower and central North Island (PAU 2), and
proposed measures to restrict dredging for kina in Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds.

31 January 2023 – Consultation on proposed pāua sustainability measures extended

Fisheries New Zealand has extended the consultation period for the review of sustainability measures for pāua (PAU 2) for 2023/24. Submissions for the review of PAU 2 will close at 5pm Friday 24 March 2023.

This extension only applied to the review of sustainability measures for PAU 2, which has a 1 October 2023 fishing year. Consultation for the remaining stocks still closed at 5pm 8 February 2023.

The consultation for PAU 2 is on a separate web page.

Review of sustainability measures for pāua (PAU 2) – 2023 April round

10 January 2023 – Proposed rock lobster sustainability measures released

Fisheries New Zealand now welcomes feedback on proposed sustainability measures for Northland rock lobster (CRA 1) for the 1 April 2023 fishing year.

A summary of the proposal is provided in the summary table

Full details are provided in the rock lobster consultation document.

Review of sustainability measures for spiny rock lobster (CRA 1) for 2023-24 [PDF, 1 MB]

This review of Northland rock lobster follows a 2022 High Court judgment on catch limit decisions made for the stock in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fishing years.

2022 High Court judgment decision for Northland rock lobster [PDF, 413 KB]

Consultation background

Fisheries New Zealand consulted on proposed changes to sustainability measures for a range of fish stocks as part of the 2023 April sustainability round. We invited feedback from tangata whenua, stakeholders, and the public on these proposed changes.

About the proposed changes

Fisheries New Zealand reviews catch limits for selected stocks twice a year. This is consistent with the purpose of the Fisheries Act 1996 to allow for sustainable utilisation.

Fisheries New Zealand reviewed:

catch limits, allowances, and recreational daily bag limits for pāua across the lower and central North Island (PAU 2)
a proposed s11 closure and catch limits and allowances for scallops in Coromandel (SCA CS)
measures to restrict dredging for kina in Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds.

The proposals for each stock in this round were assessed:

in the context of the relevant statutory requirements
using the best available information, including the latest scientific information on the status of the stocks and tangata whenua and stakeholder input.

This web page also has a summary table of the proposals

Serious scallop decline prompts emergency closure of Coromandel fishery – Government media release

Consultation documents

Review of sustainability measures for pāua (PAU 2) for 2023/24 [PDF, 649 KB]

Review of sustainability measures for scallop (SCA CS) for 2023/24 [PDF, 1.1 MB]

Review of commercial kina dredging in Tory Channel / Kura te Au, Marlborough Sounds [PDF, 974 KB]

Summary table of the proposals

This table summarised the fish stocks and measures that were under review as part of the April 2023 sustainability round.

Abbreviations used in the table are:

TAC: Total allowable catch.
TACC: Total allowable commercial catch.

Species	Stock (area)	Proposal	Rationale for review
Rock Lobster	CRA 1 Northland	↓	Rock lobster stocks support important shared fisheries. Rock lobsters are ecologically important, a taonga for tāngata whenua, a popular species for recreational fishers to catch, and support valuable export markets, regionally important industries, and employment. Fisheries New Zealand, with input from the National Rock Lobster Management Group (NRLMG), is consulting on possible changes to sustainability measures for rock lobster in CRA 1 for the 1 April 2023 fishing year. This review follows a recent High Court judgment in relation to catch limit decisions made for CRA 1 in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fishing years. Fisheries New Zealand is proposing options to reduce the TAC, allowances, TACC and recreational daily limit in accordance with the findings in the judgment.
Scallops	SCA CS Coromandel Hauraki Gulf, and Western Bay of Plenty	↓ Area closure under s 11 of the Act	The Coromandel scallop stock supports a shared fishery which is highly valued by tangata whenua and stakeholders. Most of SCA CS was closed to fishing from 1 April this year due to sustainability concerns, with 2 discrete areas left open to fishing (one at Little Barrier Island and one in the Colville Channel). Camera-based surveys carried out this year in these areas have shown serious declines in scallop abundance for both sites since the last surveys in 2021. Because of these declines, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has decided to implement an emergency measure under section 16 of the Fisheries Act 1996 to immediately close these areas to fishing. This measure has been implemented to mitigate the risk of further impact from fishing activity on remaining scallop populations and habitat over the upcoming summer period until longer-term measures are in place. Fisheries New Zealand is now consulting on longer-term measures to support the recovery and sustainability of scallops in SCA CS after the emergency measure has lapsed. This includes options to close both areas under section 11 of the Fisheries Act, and an option to change the TAC, allowances, and TAC of SCA CS from the 1 April 2023 fishing year.
Pāua	PAU 2 East Cape, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington, and Taranaki	= ↓	PAU 2 is a shared fishery highly valued by customary Māori, recreational, and commercial fishers. The stock covers a large area – all of the lower and central North Island. Fisheries New Zealand is proposing to set a TAC and allowances for the 1 October 2023 fishing year, noting that only a TACC is currently set. Fisheries New Zealand is also proposing options to address recreational harvest pressure following concerns of localised depletion across many areas.
Kina	Tory Channel, Marlborough Sounds	Prohibition of dredging under s 11 of the Act	Benthic habitats in the Tory Channel support significant marine communities which provide shelter, protection, and resources for a range of marine species, including taonga and species of importance to fisheries. Fisheries New Zealand is seeking feedback on whether commercial kina dredging in Tory Channel should be prohibited under section 11 Sustainability Measures of the Fisheries Act 1996. This prohibition would aim to avoid, remedy, or mitigate any adverse effects of this fishing method on the aquatic environment and to maintain biological diversity in the area.

Legal overview

Our legal overview of sustainability measures provides the main legal requirements as they relate to decision-making on sustainability measures. It also references the relevant provisions in the Fisheries Act 1996.

Legal overview of sustainability measures [PDF, 369 KB]