Fisheries Infosite

Seabirds


Current Management

The Wildlife Act 1953 and the Fisheries Act 1996 deal with the impact of fishing activity on seabirds. Together, these Acts provide the legal framework (6) under which regulations and policies are established to reduce the impact of fishing on seabirds. As well as our legislative obligations New Zealand has a number of international obligations in relation to seabirds and fishing.

The government has put regulations in place in many fisheries to specify the use of measures to prevent incidental seabird mortality. Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) observers collect and report information about seabird interactions with fisheries (among other tasks) for MPI and the Department of Conservation. They also report on whether vessels implement relevant regulations.

Key regulations cover Bottom longline (No. F541), Surface longline (No. 2014/213) and Trawl (No. F517).

New Zealand actively promotes policies, practices and research to improve management of fishing interactions with seabirds in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, including those which cover the Western and Central Pacific, the South Pacific, Southern bluefin tuna, and the Antarctic.

There are many voluntary initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of fishing interactions with seabirds and how to reduce these interactions.

MPI and the Deepwater Group have developed Vessel Management Plans that specify how each and every vessel in the deepwater trawl fleet will manage and report interactions with seabirds. These plans are based on best practice and include references to relevant regulations.

Non-Government Organisations are involved in designing and delivering education programmes. A focus of the current NPOA-Seabirds 2013 is recreational fisheries , an area where MPI and Southern Seabird Solutions have been collaborating on education. Industry groups are particularly active in facilitating information sharing among their fishers about how to reduce fishing interactions with seabirds.



Contact us about this page    Last updated 25/01/2017