Minister David Parker’s Speech to fisheries, research and environmental stakeholders

Speech to fisheries, research and environmental stakeholders, Auckland University 8 June 2022, by Ocean and Fisheries Minister David Parker.

Thank you Professor James Metson, Professor Simon Thrush and Auckland University for the opportunity to speak today. It’s a pleasure, given the interest and expertise that Auckland University has in areas like coastal and ocean ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture.

I want to acknowledge the work of Dr Andrew Jeffs and Dr Maren Wellenreuther, for their part on the expert panel guiding the report on The Future of Commercial Fishing in Aotearoa New Zealand, undertaken by the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. I know the hard work and insights of another dozen researchers from this university also contributed greatly to that report.

Course today marks World Oceans Day, which causes us to come together to celebrate, protect and restore our blue planet. The underlying sentiment connects everyone in this room.

In New Zealand, oceans define our way of life – they determine our climate and shape this country culturally, recreationally, and economically.
Many of us have grown up near or live by the sea, and our oceans and fisheries help put food on the table and create jobs in our communities. We want to protect our diverse ocean ecosystems so that they can continue.

Increased pressures and demands have, and will continue to threaten the biodiversity and ecological integrity of many marine ecosystems, including some fisheries. Many of you have experienced these or seen their impact first-hand.

These challenges do not end at our maritime boundaries. Actions in New Zealand have effects on the global ocean ecosystem. The health of New Zealand’s marine environment contributes to the health of the rest of the world.

We’ve got some things we can be pretty proud of. Our management system has been more successful than most at addressing simple, sector-specific issues but has difficulty managing the complexity of interacting pressures and conflicting uses.

This Government recognises the importance of oceans and the range of pressures our oceans and fisheries face. We established the Oceans and Fisheries portfolio to help manage our oceans in a more integrated way.

The Government’s vision for the portfolio is that we, “ensure the long-term health and resilience of ocean and coastal ecosystems, including the role of fisheries”. It is focused on ocean ecosystem health because that is the wider context within which we need to operate. We need to have resilient and healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems to provide for us now and for future generations.

The first is to promote an ecosystem-based approach to research, monitoring, and management.

The second is to establish a spatial planning framework that optimises protection and use of marine spaces and resources.

And the third is to support the development of a high-value marine economy that provides equitable wellbeing benefits.

This Government‘s increased focus on oceans and fisheries is reflected work being progressed in support of these objectives.

I want to share some of this with you today and to hear from you about your priorities.

One of the country’s most valued and intensively used coastal spaces is the Hauraki Gulf. Its waters and islands support a range of species from seabirds to seabed dwelling corals.

To ensure the Gulf can be enjoyed by future generations, this Government has delivered its strategy for action, Revitalising the Gulf, in response to the call for action made by the 2017 Sea Change – Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Plan. It addresses many pressures on this environment. I want to acknowledge those from this university who helped shape this important strategy, including Professor John Montgomery, for his role as a member of the Sea Change Ministerial Advisory Committee.

I also want to thank those who supported the development of the original Sea Change plan, and the Hauraki Gulf Forum for their work in raising awareness about the Gulf’s degradation.

Revitalising the Gulf sets out a long-term plan to improve the health of this important area and drive integrated actions, including establishing new marine protection areas and the development of the country’s first area-specific fisheries plan.

The fisheries plan will restrict trawl fishing to carefully selected corridors.

Complementary work is underway via the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management. The serious effects of land sourced activities on sediment loads in the Firth of Thames must be better addressed.

An advisory group has been established to support revitalising the Gulf is made up of stakeholders in local fisheries management decisions. Work to finalise the fisheries plan is to be completed later this year.

Soon after taking responsibility for the Oceans and Fisheries portfolio I became concerned about the parlous state of New Zealand’s scallop fisheries.
Scallops from the top of the South Island were once the largest scallop fishery in the country. However, it has been closed since 2016 due to decimating stock levels, Reseeding efforts have been unsuccessful in recent years.

Northland and Coromandel scallops even before this year have had very significant reductions to catch limits in recent years, but even reduced levels of catches were at near historical lows. There were individual events that worried people, the spike up and then rapid decline in catches in Opito Bay worried me, and I took active steps to get more information.

This graph illustrates the situation clearly. The Y-axis shows tonnes of scallops caught commercially, in meatweight, and the X-axis shows the years from 1991 to 2022. This top line, which peaks at over 800 tonnes in the mid-90s, is the Southern scallop fishery. The other two lines represent the Northland and Coromandel scallop fisheries.

In September 2021, I approved a request made by the Ngāti Hei Trust to close the east Coromandel scallop fishery for a period of 2 years. This followed a customary rāhui placed by Ngāti Hei on the Opito Bay area in December 2020, to take pressure off the scallop fishery.

Updated scientific surveys received soon thereafter for key scallop fishing areas confirmed my and community concerns that scallop beds are in very bad shape.
It was clear that immediate action was required. My decision to close the Northland Scallop fishery and close most of the Coromandel scallop fishery took effect from 1 April.

I acknowledge these decisions will impact fishers’ livelihoods and that there will be fewer scallops available for consumers, at a higher price. But the drastic closures was necessary to protect the little stuff that is left.

The closures were necessary to protect and rebuild these important fisheries. Consideration is also being given to how they can be better managed. I have commissioned further survey work to provide a robust baseline to track how the few areas which remain open in the Colville Channel will respond to the closures and catch reductions. I am anticipating this work will be completed prior to the start of the commercial scallop season in July.

I believe the causes of the decline include scallop fishing methods, fishing pressure generally, the discovery and exploitation of previously unknown beds which may have been a spawning source, the use of GPS technology to exploit beds once discovered, population pressure and last but not least sediment from.
Currently, all commercial harvesting is done using dredges are –dragged through the scallop beds to pick up shellfish.

Currently there is no other legal method for commercial scallop fishing in New Zealand. However, over time, we expect other approaches and innovative technologies to become available.

Fisheries New Zealand recently completed consultation on a package of technical regulatory changes, including removing the prohibition on the use of underwater breathing apparatus by commercial scallop fishers. This could allow commercial an alternative to dredging in areas where scallop harvest is permitted.

In addition, the Government, through the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour Fund has supported NIWA to develop alternative methods for surveying scallops without impacting the seabed. Research like this could see significant changes in how scallop fisheries are managed and harvested.

The sad story of the loss of our scallops should worry everyone in the room. If I had one ask of you, it would be to get active in planning processes in councils in respect of sedimentation effects in coastal areas.

Fisheries Amendment Bill

I want to turn to the Fisheries Amendment Bill. The current fisheries was world leading in many ways when introduced.. However, it is a product of its time reflecting the science, technology and management approaches of the 1980s and 1990s.

We need to take advantage of technological changes and advances in science to improve our fisheries management system.

The ability to legitimately return a range of fish to the sea without incurring a cost has discouraged better fishing practices and innovation in new catch technology.
This was made clear in the 2016 Heron Report into Operations Achilles, Hippocamp and Overdue, which showed that discarding and high-grading was a long-standing problem that has not been effectively managed.

The scale of it remains contested, with catch reconstruction models suggesting the problem was largely than the Government acknowledged them. I don’t know where the truth lies between those two views, but there’s enough knowledge of the problem allied with alternative new technologies to address the problem to know that we should so something about it.

The Fisheries Amendment Bill does this by tightening commercial fishing rules for which fish must be landed, and which fish are allowed to be discarded at sea.
These changes will incentivise fishers to catch the fish they value, and increase the minimum operating standards – driving increased environmental performance while also introducing opportunities for new value to be realised.

I am aware the part of the Bill is controversial to some. There are concerns that an instrument making it easier to create pre-set rules could undermine the sustainability provisions in the Act and so weaken our move towards a broader ecosystem-based management approach. It’s an issue I’m aware and interested in, and we look forward to exploring those concerns through a select committee which is now underway.

On-board cameras

The Bill also furthers the use of on-board cameras.
This is a key component of the Government’s fisheries reform. It follows the 2019 roll out of cameras on vessels operating in core Māui dolphin habitats. It builds on the work in 2017 by the then-Minister, Nathan Guy under National when the Mike Heron report came out. That Government was clear that cameras were necessary but sadly the work which was expensive wasn’t funded until last year by this Government.

We confirmed last week that some 300 inshore fishing vessels will be fitted with cameras by the end of 2024, providing more accurate information about fishing activity and better evidence for decision-making. We’re using cutting-edge artificial intelligence software that will improve the technology, including by helping manage costs. New Zealand will be at the forefront of on-board camera technology.

The software uses machine learning to recognise relevant activity for recording. When the software detects activities such as setting a net or hauling, the cameras move into high-definition capture and the relevant footage is stored and marked for upload. This reduces footage storage and review costs, and better protects the privacy of fishers.

The independent information cameras provide will further support the professional reputation of our fishing industry, and inform confident fisheries management decisions – helping ensure sustainability whilst avoiding overly conservative actions. It’s a big step towards a more data-driven, integrated, and responsive fisheries management system.

Seabirds

An important component of the Oceans and Fisheries work is the protection of at-risk species. Seabirds are among the most threatened groups of birds globally. New Zealand is guardian  of many species including albatross and petrels.

The current population decline is particularly concerning for a long-lived and slow-breeding species like the Antipodean albatross.
The current decline means that over the next three generations, the Antipodean albatross will be on the verge of extinction if we don’t take action both here and internationally.

In 2020, the government delivered a National Plan of Action to reduce fishing-related capture of seabirds. This focuses on developing new bycatch mitigation practices and improving the practices already in use.

In December last year, New Zealand proposed and signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding on Seabird Conservation with Spain, a key fishing nation. This has been well received, and is an important step towards improving international cooperation on seabird conservation, especially for Antipodean Albatross.
We have since drafted an implementation plan for cooperating with Spain to improve seabird protection. This involves shared scientific and policy initiatives to research, strengthen, and advocate for seabird conservation globally.

Another key to improving the international practices around seabird bycatch mitigation lies in strengthening the rules of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. New Zealand continues to lead advocacy in the Pacific region, including on improved seabird measures and compliance with these.

We have prioritised the monitoring of seabird measures in our surveillance operations in the Pacific. We have also successfully advocated for seabird conservation in bilateral negotiations. In our official oceans and fisheries dialogues, we have secured agreement with China and the European Union to collaboratively work on seabird conservation as a higher priority.

During this time, New Zealand has also been actively conducting research on the Southern Hemisphere Risk Assessment, to comprehensively analyse the risks posed to endangered species by fishing vessels. We have colle

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