The Ministry of Fisheries is establishing minimum performance expectations, or Standards, for fisheries. These Standards will be consulted, and agreed upon, with stakeholders before being subject to final approval by Government. 

What is a standard?

Standards are an element of the objectives-based fisheries management framework. The main purpose of standards is to:

• establish clear, specific, measurable statements of results required to achieve fishery outcomes
• provide structure to how government objectives will be achieved for fisheries
• provide consistency across fisheries
• remove ambiguity about what high level government objectives mean for specific fisheries.

A standard may describe how a government policy objective or outcome will be achieved. For example by one or more of the following:

• defining limits, targets, thresholds or levels of acceptable risk
• describing a process to be followed
• outlining a range of actions, tools and management approaches.

The specific design of a standard, including how prescriptive it is, will be determined on a case-by-case basis, through the policy development process.

Standards will be:

• consistent with the relevant obligations and provisions of the Fisheries Act
• practicable, cost-effective, and able to be implemented, monitored and enforced
• approved by the Minister or Chief Executive as appropriate

Why Standards?

High-level government policy objectives, such as those contained in the Fisheries Act, allow discretion on exactly what results are being sought and how they will be achieved. Standards are a tool that can provide: 

• a statement of what Government determines to be the level of performance necessary to achieve outcomes
• guidance at a fishery level to ensure that objectives for specific fisheries are appropriately specified
• a means by which to measure and monitor our progress to achieve good fisheries and environmental performance.

How will standards be implemented? 

All fisheries plans will be required to meet relevant standards.

The Minister of Fisheries or Chief Executive of the Ministry of Fisheries must be satisfied that the measures are sufficient to ensure the standard will be met.