Deemed value penalties FAQs
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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.
February 19, 2026
Deemed value penalties are meant to work like a fine, a financial incentive that encourages fishers to stay within lawful catch limits. The penalty is supposed to be high enough to encourage responsible fishing, but low enough to discourage dumping of unwanted catch overboard.
February 19, 2026
Deemed value penalties are financial penalties commercial fishers are required to pay when they catch more fish than they are legally allowed. Commercial fishers must acquire Annual Catch Entitlements (ACE) to cover the fish they catch. If they catch more fish than they have ACE, they must buy more ACE. If they cannot source enough ... Read more.
