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Review of sustainability measures for orange roughy (ORH 3B) and blue mackerel (EMA 1) – 2025 October round

Update – 29 September 2025

Minister’s decisions released 

Following consultation, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries has made decisions on sustainability measures for orange roughy in ORH 3B and blue mackerel in EMA 1 as part of the 2025 October sustainability round.

We have released:

  • the minister's decision letter
  • summaries of the decisions for each stock.

The decision letter – Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [PDF, 464 KB]

Summary table of the minister’s decisions

Species Stock/area Change Decision summary

Orange roughy / nihorota

ORH 3B

TAC ↓

Decrease the TAC from 4,995 to 2,349 tonnes

Decrease the allowance for all other sources of mortality to the stock caused by fishing from 238 to 23 tonnes

Decrease the TACC from 4,752 to 2,321 tonnes

ESCR voluntary catch limit reduction to 324 tonnes

Blue mackerel / tawatawa

EMA 1

TAC ↑

Increase the TAC from 7,690 to 7,741 tonnes

Retain the allowance for Māori customary non-commercial fishing at 20 tonnes

Decrease the allowance for recreational fishing from 40 to 15 tonnes

Increase the allowance for all other sources of mortality to the stock caused by fishing from 0 to 76 tonnes

Retain the EMA 1 TACC at 7,630 tonnes

Outcome of related consultation

We've also released the decisions for a related consultation for other fish stocks as part of the 2025 October sustainability round.

Review of sustainability measures for 1 October 2025

The advice papers and submissions received during public consultation for both consultations will be released in a few weeks. 

Consultation background

Fisheries New Zealand consulted on proposed changes to sustainability measures for orange roughy in ORH 3B and blue mackerel in EMA 1 as part of the 2025 October sustainability round.

The ORH 3B stock covers orange roughy across Southland, the East Coast of the South Island, the Sub-Antarctic and the Chatham Islands. The EMA 1 stock covers blue mackerel across the East Coast of Northland, and Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.

We invited feedback from tangata whenua, stakeholders, and the public on the proposals for these stocks. Summaries of the proposals are on this page and full details are in the consultation documents. 

Submissions on the ORH 3B and EMA 1 proposals closed at 5pm on 30 July 2025.

Consultation documents

Species

Stock/area

Consultation document

Orange roughy

ORH 3B

Review of sustainability measures for orange roughy (ORH 3B) for 2025/26 [PDF, 2.4 MB]

Blue mackerel

EMA 1

Review of sustainability measures for blue mackerel (EMA 1) for 2025/26 [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Supporting document

Information on the interpretation and application of the statutory considerations relevant to TAC decisions is provided in the Legal Appendix. 

Legal Appendix: Overview of legislative requirements and other considerations in relation to sustainability measures [PDF, 389 KB]

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.

These proposals 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.

Related consultation

Minister’s decisions have also been released for the related consultation for other fish stocks as part of the 2025 October sustainability round. 

Review of sustainability measures for 1 October 2025

Submissions are public information

Note that all, part, or a summary of your submission may be published on this website. Most often this happens when we issue a document that reviews the submissions received.

People can also ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we must make the content of submissions available unless we have good reason for withholding it. Those reasons are detailed in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.

If you think there are grounds to withhold specific information from publication, make this clear in your submission or contact us. Reasons may include that it discloses commercially sensitive or personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold details can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may direct us to release it.

Official Information Act 1982 – NZ Legislation

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