About deepwater fisheries
Deepwater and middle-depth fisheries are between 12 and 200 nautical miles offshore. This reaches the limit of New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Almost all fishing in New Zealand's deepwater fisheries is commercial. This is because of:
- how far they are from the shore
- how deep the fishing is.
Over 200,000 tonnes of fish are caught from deepwater fisheries each year. This was worth an estimated $870 million in export earnings in 2019.
Deepwater fish stocks
| Deepwater stocks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 |
Hake: all Hoki: all Jack mackerel: JMA 3, JMA 7 Ling: LIN 3 - LIN 7 Orange roughy: all |
Oreos: all Scampi: all Southern blue whiting: all Squid: all |
| Tier 2 |
Alfonsino: all Barracouta: BAR 4, BAR 5, BAR 7 Black cardinal fish: all Deepwater crabs (CHC/GSC/KIC): all English mackerel: EMA 3, EMA 7 Frostfish: FRO 3 - FRO 9 Gemfish: SKI 3, SKI 9 Ghost shark, dark: GSH 4 - GSH 6 Ghost shark, pale: all Lookdown dory: all |
Patagoian toothfish: all Prawn killer: all Redbait: all Ribaldo: RIB 3 - RIB 8 Rubyfish: all Sea perch: SPE 3 - SPE 7 Silver warehou: all Spiny dogfish: SPD 4, SPD 5 White warehou: all |
| Tier 3 | Non-QMS species | |
Quota Management System (QMS) and deepwater fisheries
We use the QMS to sustainably manage New Zealand's deepwater fishing. All fish managed under the QMS have catch limits. The limits are based on research we do to work out how much fish can be caught to keep numbers healthy.
Deepwater fishery programmes
Ensuring that fishing activity in New Zealand is sustainable is a focus of all our plans and research. We prepare new plans as needed to:
- ensure sustainability
- reduce the impact of fishing on the sea.
We manage New Zealand's deepwater and middle-depth fisheries under the national deepwater fisheries plan.
National deepwater fisheries plan
We manage deepwater fishing using the National fisheries plan for deepwater and middle-depth fisheries. This is also called the National deepwater plan. We created the plan with input from:
- the fishing industry
- environmental non-government organisations (NGOs).
The plan has 3 parts:
- Part 1: Strategic direction for deepwater fisheries management
- Part 2: Annual operational plan
- Part 3: Annual review report
