Fisheries and conservation services levies

Update – 31 August 2026

Consultation on the proposed 2026–2027 fisheries and conservation services levies has now closed. MPI thanks everyone who made a submission and provided feedback.

The 2026 levy orders have been made and the levies are listed in Schedule 2 of the orders. The total levies for 2026–27 are $35.4 million. The new levy rates will take effect from 1 October 2026.

Fisheries (Cost Recovery Levies for Fisheries Services) Order 2026 – NZ Legislation

Fisheries (Cost Recovery Levies for Conservation Services) Order 2026 – NZ Legislation

Notice Under the Legislation Act 2019 – NZ Gazette

About the levies

We charge commercial fishers regular levies for:

fisheries services that relate to managing commercial fisheries
conservation services (on behalf of the Department of Conservation).

What you'll be charged

You will be charged:

monthly levies for every quota share you own.
an annual levy based on the weight of non-quota species (albacore tuna, seal shark, skipjack tuna, and octopus) you landed under a fishing permit (issued under the Fisheries Act 1996).

We update the cost-recovery levy orders for the fishing industry every year.

Download the latest levies [XLSX, 45 KB]

Services covered by levies

Levies fund services, delivered or contracted by both Fisheries New Zealand, a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), and the Department of Conservation. These services support sustainable fisheries management and include:

science research to inform fisheries management decisions, including catch limit setting;
on-board cameras and observers to independently verify catch on board commercial fishing vessels;
monitoring and offence detection to prevent illegal fishing activity and hold offenders to account;
registry services to support the operation of the Quota Management System; and
research on the adverse effects of commercial fishing on protected species and development of effective solutions to mitigate these effects.