Missed opportunities in the Fisheries Amendment Bill

Managing Fisheries properly is an undeniably complex job for any government. However, the fishing sector in Aotearoa is an especially fraught space, one that the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor described as characterized by “poor relationships and a lack of trust.”

In our view, much of this mistrust comes from a broad lack of transparency in decisions about our fisheries. From repeated failures to meaningfully consult with iwi and hapū on decisions that impact their rohe moana, to management decisions based on selective science - it’s clear we have a long way to go before we achieve fair, trusted, and sustainable fisheries management in Aotearoa.

While credit must be given to the Government for making the legislative amendments required to roll out cameras on boats, it is disappointing that the Fisheries Amendment Bill represents a missed opportunity for meaningful reform to address other fundamental issues that impact us all. For example, ensuring our Fisheries are maintained at healthy levels for future generations, or protecting threatened species from extinction. One of the proposed changes in the Bill in fact runs in direct opposition with what the government says it is trying to achieve.

Our analysis also finds that the Bill fails to remedy deficiencies in our existing legislation concerning two international legal obligations in Fisheries Management: the precautionary approach and ecosystem-based management. This government has the first real political opportunity to rectify the current weak drafting exposed many years ago in a High Court decision. Without amending such weaknesses in our domestic legislation - for example codifying these principles more clearly and explicitly into the Act - we fall ever further away from being a “world leader” in fisheries management - despite the Govt’s own stated aspirations to become such.

Read our full submission at the link below.

Watch our presentation to the Primary Production Committee here (ELI’s submission begins at 35:20 minutes).