Fishing year differs between fishstocks
Most fishstocks in the QMS are managed on an October fishing year basis which runs for 12 months ending on the 30th of September. However there are some fishstocks in the QMS that have an April or February fishing year. The April fishing year starts on 1 April and ends 31 March and the February fishing year starts on 1 February and ends 31 January.
Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) and other catch alllowances
The TACC and allowances shown on this website will be the limits set at the beginning of the fishing year, these limits are valid for all subsequent fishing years until the Minister decides a change is needed. See In-season and pre-season TAC increases below for an exception to this rule.
In-season and pre-season TAC increases
This website does not include in-season or pre-season TAC increases. After a fishing year has begun the Minister may decide to increase the TAC for certain fishstocks and allocate that increase to quota owners and other stakeholders. If the increase is utilised by commercial fishers the reported catch quantity will increase and if fully fished will be greater than the TACC.
Underfishing ACE
On or about the 15th day after the end of the fishing year a calculation is made to ascertain any underfishing that has occurred for certain fishstocks in the QMS. If a commercial fisher did not fully catch all the ACE they held the previous fishing year an extra ACE allocation may be allocated to that fisher, to use in the new fishing year, up to a maximum of 10% of the ACE held that previous fishing year. Underfishing ACE is not displayed on this website but this extra ACE can mean that the reported catch can then be greater than the TACC.
Extra Territorial catches
Permit holders do not have to report fish that are caught outside NZ fisheries waters (ET) and the species is not subject to the QMS outside NZ fisheries waters. In practice this means any reported catch for ET fish will be incomplete, some permit holders will report it and some do not.
GLM9 fishing year date changes
On 1 April 2024 GLM9 will switch from an October fishing year to an April fishing year. As such, for the 2023/24 fishing year, GLM9 will have a transitional fishing year beginning on the 1 October 2023 and ending on 31 March 2024. After this transitional fishing year, GLM9 will operate on the April fishing year.
South Island Eel stock changes
On 1 October 2016, South Island Eel Stocks (ANG) were separated and managed as individual LFE and SFE stocks. The stock split for ANG 13 came into effect on 1 February 2017 as this QMA has a February to January fishing year. All catch, TACC and allowances prior to the separation were recorded under ANG. After the separation all catch, TACC and allowances are recorded under LFE and SFE from that date onwards.
White warehou QMA
The fishstocks white warehou in Quota Management Areas 5 and 6 (fishstock codes WWA5 and WWA6) were amalgamated on 1 October 2007. The amalgamation created a new quota management area called WWA5B and the fishstock code has the same name WWA5B. All catch, TACC and allowances are recorded under WWA5B from 1 October 2007 onwards; before that date WWA5 and WWA6 are the relevant codes.
Foveaux Strait dredge oysters recorded in numbers
The Fisheries (Reporting) Regulations 2001 states that all Foveaux Strait dredge oysters must be recorded in oyster numbers, and those numbers must, if appropriate, be recorded in any part of a return that refers to weight as if 1 oyster weighed 1 kilogram. This means the TACC, allowances and catch will be number of individual oysters and not kilograms (even though it might say kgs).
Scallop weights recorded in meatweight
The Fisheries (Reporting) Regulations 2001 states that all scallop weights must be recorded in meatweight, being the weight of scallops remaining when the shell, skirt and gut has been removed and discarded. This means the TACC, allowances and catch for all scallops will be meatweight kilograms.
