Fisheries observer services

What fisheries observers do

Fisheries observers join commercial fishing boat trips to collect data. They collect data on:

what fish the fishers are catching
how many fish they're catching
information on marine mammal and seabirds (by-catch and sightings)
biological information to help with assessing fish stocks
unusual specimens for museums
information about vessel safety and employment
fish processing information.

Observers provide independent data on fishing catch and effort

The data that observers collect is independent. They compare it against data from the fishing boats. They keep a separate logbook recording catch and effort. This includes:

catch information and amounts for all species caught
details of fishing operations, like:
- start and finish times
- positions and places where fish were caught
- fishing and bottom depths
- devices and practices to protect protected species (like seabirds and marine mammals)
- catch data for each tow or set.

Data collected for other agencies

Observers collect information for Fisheries New Zealand as well as for:

If an observer is on your boat

You must take an observer on your boat if we ask you to. This is a requirement under the Fisheries Act 1996. You must provide them with:

food
accommodation
access to the boat, records, fish, crew, and equipment
full access to communication devices on the boat
help to complete their duties.

Observers are not enforcement officers. However, they must record any potential offences that they observe.

Number of days that observers spend at sea

Each year, we work with the Department of Conservation to plan the total number of days that observers will be at sea for. This is called a "seadays plan". These plans always run from 1 July to 30 June of the next year.

2022–2023 observer seadays plan

Each year, Fisheries New Zealand and the Department of Conservation plan the number of observer days needed at sea for different fisheries and clients. The 'seadays plan' is for 1 July to 30 June each year.

The following tables show the current number of sea days planned for each fishery and the total delivered up to 30 January 2023.

Inshore fisheries

Middle-depth fisheries

Deepwater fisheries

Highly migratory

Other fisheries

Inshore fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
West Coast North Island trawl	91	91	182	72
Snapper 1 (SNA1) trawl – Standard/PSH	108	108	216	92
TAR 2 trawl	103.5	103.5	207	18
South Coast South Island set net	133	133	266	18
East Coast South Island set net - Kaikoura	91	91	182	0
East Coast South Island set net - Otago	141.5	141.5	283	66
East Coast South Island trawl - TMP	149	149	298	51
East Coast South Island trawl - TAR	63.5	63.5	127	43
South Coast South Island trawl	59	59	118	36
Bottom long line - (SNA1)	151	151	302	33
Bluenose/hapuku & bass 1 (BNS/HPB1) bottom long-line	19.5	19.5	39	4

Middle-depth (MD) fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Southern blue whiting	200	50	250	333
Squid	1476.8	369.2	1846	238
West Coast North Island	255	45	300	314
West Coast South Island	340	60	400	455
Chatham Rise Middle Depth	471.75	83.25	555	393
Sub-Antarctic Middle Depth	276.25	48.75	325	387
Hoki Cook Strait	170	30	200	103
WCSI Hoki-Inside the line	89.25	15.75	105	101
Scampi 6A	160	40	200	82
Scampi Other	240	60	300	194
LIN BLL >34m	157.25	27.75	185	94
<34m Mixed BLL	378.25	66.75	445	46

Deepwater (DW) fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
North Island Deepwater	99	11	110	13
Chatham Rise Deepwater	261	29	290	261
Sub-Antarctic Deepwater	90	10	100	54
West Coast Deepwater	63	7	70	0

Highly migratory species

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Domestic tuna surface long-line – North Island southern bluefin tuna	127.5	22.5	150	0
Domestic tuna surface long-line – South Island southern bluefin tuna	127.5	22.5	150	31
Domestic surface long-line – North Island bigeye tuna and swordfish	102	18	120	0
Domestic surface long-line – South Island bigeye tuna and swordfish	21.25	3.75	25	0
Domestic purse seine	110.5	19.5	130	30

Other

Fishery¹	Compliance	Requested days/permit requirements (industry)	Total planned	Total achieved
Compliance	100		100	0
High risk vessels		0	0	0
Medium risk vessels		250	250	35
CCAMLR¹		265	265	231
SPFRMO¹ trawl		150	150	0
SPRFMO¹ bottom long-line		50	50	0
SPRFMO¹ Exploratory bottom long-line		50	50	0
West Coast North Island trawl survey		0	0	0
WCPFC¹ surface longline		0	0	0
Days provided on request (VSCF/OAD)		300	300	204

¹CCAMLR – Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources, SPFRMO – South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, WCPFC – Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Management Commission

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Training	255	45	300	65

Heath and safety assessment before leaving port

A commercial fishing boat must pass a health and safety assessment before it leaves port with an observer on it. This helps us to meet obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Fisheries New Zealand does the assessment.

We're making a risk assessment process

We're making a risk assessment process for boats that will have an observer on board. This will help to:

work out how often your boat needs a health and safety assessment
reduce disruption that the assessments might cause
help everyone with meeting their health and safety obligations.

Find out what the assessment involves

We have assessment forms for both inshore and deepwater boats. Fishers should read these to make sure they understand what the assessments will involve.

We've updated these in response to COVID-19.

Deep water pre-placement health and safety assessment form [PDF, 137 KB]

Inshore pre-placement health and safety assessment form [PDF, 137 KB]