FAQs
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Customary Fisheries | Fisheries Management | maximum sustainable yield | QMS | Economics | Fishing | Rescue Fish | Environment | Fishing methods | Recreational Fishing | Fishcare | customary | Kahawai | Reform scam | Baitfish | Scallops | Crayfish | WRC decision | Marlin | Reef fish | Deemed value penalties | Judicial Review
March 4, 2026
The Amendment Bill is due to go to the Select Committee in March 2026. This will be our only chance to make our voice heard and stop these changes from becoming law. Subscribe to receive LegaSea Newsletters and keep up to date when the Amendment Bill is released. Be ready to speak up before it’s ... Read more.
March 4, 2026
Removing statutory safeguards against overfishing and environmental harm. Commercial interests will be able to make decisions on catch limits, when and how fishing occurs. Weakened environmental protections. Decision-makers could legally ignore the broader impacts of fishing on the public or the marine environment when setting catch limits, putting marine health at greater risk. Less monitoring ... Read more.
March 4, 2026
It’s a scheme developed by the commercial fishing industry and the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries to shift more power into the hands of commercial quota owners and weaken safeguards designed to protect our fish. In February 2025 the Minister and industry representatives proposed a package of changes to the Fisheries Act. The ‘reform’ package ... Read more.
March 4, 2026
No. LegaSea supports responsible, small-scale commercial fishing that operates within environmental limits. Sustainable fisheries benefit everyone, including commercial operators.
March 4, 2026
No, it merely reduces costs for quota owners while the public bears the cost of environmental degradation. The majority of our seafood in New Zealand is exported overseas on average for less than $6 a kilo (excluding shellfish & crayfish). There are few, if any, fish available to Kiwis at this price. (Source – Seafood ... Read more.
March 4, 2026
Because the fisheries resource belongs to all New Zealanders. Judicial review is a fundamental part of the decision-making process, available to all New Zealanders. It allows for expert, independent oversight by judges who can review decisions and how they compare to the law. It’s a basic accountability mechanism that ensures decisions follow the law and ... Read more.
March 4, 2026
Court scrutiny has historically played a critical role in holding Fisheries Ministers accountable to the purpose of the Fisheries Act. The Minister must ensure sustainability and protect the wider marine environment when making fisheries decisions. Recent High Court decisions involving crayfish, tarakihi, and the protection of hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) have all reinforced the Act’s purpose. ... Read more.
February 19, 2026
No. LegaSea and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council have submitted many times that the deemed value system is not working. It’s not fair on smaller operators if larger operators, who hold a lot of Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE), will not release it. This encourages dumping, which is not good for the small-scale operator, nor ... Read more.
February 19, 2026
Deemed value penalties are supposed to be a deterrent to prevent commercial fishers from exceeding lawful catch limits. If these penalties are reduced, it will encourage ongoing catches beyond sustainable limits, weakening protections for fish stocks. The cost of commercial fishers catching more than they are legally allowed would instead be treated as an acceptable ... Read more.
February 19, 2026
No. The money collected from deemed value penalties goes into the Government’s Consolidated Fund. There is no requirement that deemed value revenue is reinvested into fisheries management expenses such as enforcement, monitoring, stock assessments and fisheries science.
