Meet the Ministrys new Chief Executive - Ministry of Fisheries

“The estimate is very uncertain, because to date we haven’t
had much observer coverage in some fisheries,” he says.
“This is particularly the case with smaller vessels like setnetters
and inshore trawlers and long-liners.”
NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION FOR SEABIRD
By-CATCh
In addition to the Seabird Standard, the Government is
currently making changes to its National Plan of Action to
Reduce the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in New Zealand
Fisheries (Seabird NPOA), to ensure that each fishery plays
its part in meeting the seabird standard.
The original Seabird NPOA released in 2004 allowed fishers
to manage seabird deaths in their fisheries through voluntary
Codes of Practice. But it said that if voluntary measures did
not work, the government would introduce regulations.
It is proposed that the new Seabird NPOA will include:
• A limit for each fishery (derived from the Seabird Standard)
• Assessing whether a fishery will meet these limits without
additional intervention
• Assessing if intervention is needed, assessing whether a
voluntary approach would work, or whether regulations are
required
• A transparent process for monitoring our fisheries combined
performance against the Seabird Standard.
Spencer says it will be a big challenge to ensure that fishing
does not affect the viability of endangered seabird species.
OUR INTERNATIONAL
OBLIGATIONS
New Zealand has a number of international obligations
around seabirds and fishing. These include:
• Convention on Migratory Species (CMS);
• Agreement for the Conservation of Albatrosses and
Petrels (ACAP); and
• The United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organisation International Plan of Action (IPOA)
for Reducing the Incidental Catch of Seabirds in
Longline Fisheries.
New Zealand’s National Plan of Action for Seabirds
has been developed in response to the IPOA.
“Commercial fishers have more contact with albatrosses and
petrels than most people, and the vast majority of them are
motivated to ensure they don’t catch or harm these birds.
With MFish and fishers working together on techniques to
deter seabirds from fishing gear, we can reduce seabird
by-catch to very low levels.”
Consultation for the Seabird Standard and the Seabird
NPOA closed on 14 March 2008 (visit www.fish.govt.nz for
more details).
APRIL 2008 TheBite 11