Good fisheries management means not only looking after fish stocks, but also making sure our oceans, rivers and lakes stay healthy.
This means managing fishing’s impacts on habitats and
ecosystems and on other marine species, like seabirds, sharks and
marine mammals. We must also ensure other impacts on fisheries and ecosystems are being managed - like pollution from the land, introduced pests and diseases, and seabed mining.
Fishing impacts are managed through a combination of government limits (
Standards), management plans and
protected areas. These are developed by the
Ministry of Fisheries in consultation with other government departments, environmental NGOs, and commercial and recreational fishing interests.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Department of Conservation also work together to understand the range of impacts we are having on New Zealand’s marine environment and prioritise our research and management of these.
Environmental and ecological considerations relating to fisheries are discussed by the Aquatic Environment Working Group – a group of independent scientists and representatives from both fishing and environmental sectors. This group is run by the Ministry of Fisheries’ science division.
While the Conservation Services Programme, run by the Department of Conservation, also overseas a range of relevant research – particularly relating to fishing impacts on protected species.
Other impacts on New Zealand’s marine environment are managed by a range of regional and central government agencies. The Ministry of Fisheries and Department of Conservation make sure these other agencies understand the effects that activities they manage are having on the marine environment.