Update – 24 February 2017
Minister's decision
The Minister for Primary Industries has made his decision on the operational plan for the SQU6T fishery for 2016-17. The Minister's decision letter has the details and reasons for his decision.
- Minister's decision letter [PDF, 476 KB]
- Decision document [PDF, 609 KB]
- Operational Plan 2016-17 [PDF, 2.4 MB]
Consultation background
Until 23 December 2016, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) invited comment to extend for another year the Operational Plan to manage the incidental capture of New Zealand sea lions in the southern squid trawl fishery (SQU 6T) for 2016-17. The previous 5-year Operational Plan expired on 30 September 2016.
A collaborative review of management settings for the SQU 6T fishery has been included as an action under the proposed New Zealand Sea lion Threat Management Plan (TMP). However, because the TMP has not yet been finalised, revised management measures will not be ready in time before the southern squid fishery begins in late January 2017.
Based on the outcomes of research done to support the development of the TMP, it is considered that operating under the current management settings for one more season will not pose any additional risk to the New Zealand sea lion population. More details about the proposed extension are in a letter sent to stakeholders on 12 December 2016.
Download the letter sent to stakeholders [PDF, 1.4 MB]
