Download AEBR 360 Towards ecosystem-based fisheries management in New Zealand: an ecosystem approach to fisheries management case study in FMA 7

Grüss, A.; Datta, S.; McGregor-Tiatia, V.; Holmes, S.J.; Davis, J.P.; Fulton, E.A.; Sainsbury, K.; Plagányi, É.E; Dolder, P.J.; Parsa, M.; Dambacher, J.M.; Gaichas, S.K.; Townsend H.; Pascoe, S.; Blanchard, J.L.; Parsons, D. (2025). Towards ecosystem-based fisheries management in New Zealand: an ecosystem approach to fisheries management case study in FMA 7. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 360. 80 p.

Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to progress integration of broader ecosystem and environmental considerations in fisheries management. These efforts can start with an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, where these broader considerations are explicitly considered in analysis focused on management settings for individual fish stocks.

The research reported here identified and reviewed tools that could support greater analysis of ecosystem and environmental considerations in New Zealand’s current fisheries management framework.

The Fisheries Management Area 7 (west coast South Island) inshore mixed bottom trawl fishery was used as a case study for this research. Meetings with managers and key fishery stakeholders were held to establish key management questions around ecosystem and environmental considerations. This included understanding the effects of single species catch limits on other species in a mixed fishery, the ecosystem effects of environmental stressors such as sedimentation, and key predator-prey interdependencies. An international expert workshop was then held to identify tools which have been applied overseas to inform management advice on ecosystem and environmental considerations for fisheries.

There exists a diverse range of ecosystem simulation models, with different configurations, levels of complexity, information requirements, and management applications. Qualitative ecosystem models and ecosystem models of intermediate complexity are the most suitable ecosystem simulation models to assist the ecosystem approach to fisheries management in New Zealand, primarily because of their more limited data requirements and their ability to strongly engage resource managers and other stakeholders. Beyond ecosystem simulation models, tools called “métier analysis”, “principal component analysis” (“PCA”) and “heatmaps” provide additional technical options for supporting the ecosystem approach to fisheries management in New Zealand.

Our report also includes recommendations to facilitate the inclusion of ecosystem and environmental considerations in resource management, which were provided at the international expert workshop, and directions for future research.