Challenging the government’s failure to properly levy the fishing industry
ELI v Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and Others
We have filed legal proceedings against the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries and the Director General of MPI for under-levying the fishing industry and under-allocating observers.
Under the Fisheries Act and the Cost Recovery Rules, Fisheries New Zealand can levy the fishing industry to recover some of the costs of key fisheries and conservation services including conducting stock assessments, researching the effects of fishing on protected species and the marine environment more generally, and placing independent observers on fishing vessels.
We allege that Fisheries New Zealand has been under-levying the fishing industry, in effect giving industry a significant (and unlawful) discount on research costs, with the taxpayer picking up the difference. In the 2023/24 fishing year, the total cost of the misallocated projects was just over $2.5 million.
We also allege that Fisheries New Zealand have attempted to keep a lid on the costs levied on the fishing industry by unlawfully under-allocating fisheries observers (including to high priority fisheries) on commercial fishing vessels.
Why did we take this case?
In 2021, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor report, The Future of Commercial Fishing in Aotearoa New Zealand, made it clear that there are large data and knowledge gaps relating to commercial fish stocks and the marine ecosystems that support them. These gaps include a lack of knowledge on target species and the impacts of commercial fishing.
Despite this, Fisheries New Zealand has been consulting on plans to even further reduce the investment into the critical information required to administer New Zealand’s fisheries.
We believe this is the wrong approach.
Fisheries New Zealand is legally obliged to ensure the commercial fishing industry is doing its fair share to support the long-term sustainability of fish populations and the unique ecosystems that support them.
We're holding them to that.
Case timeline
June 2024 – ELI files for judicial review (court date TBA)
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Under the Fisheries Act and the Cost Recovery Rules, Fisheries New Zealand can levy the fishing industry to recover some of the costs of key fisheries and conservation services including conducting stock assessments, researching the effects of fishing on protected species and the marine environment more generally, and placing independent observers on fishing vessels.
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