May 22, 2020
A resource rental is a tax applied to the commercial use of natural resources. When the Quota Management System was introduced in 1986 quota holders were required to pay a resource rental on their annual catch of fish. The tax was terminated in 1994 and replaced with a user pays, levy based system. Over time […]
May 22, 2020
Under the Quota Management System quota is a share in a fish stock. In every fish stock there are 100 million shares. Investors buy and sell these shares. Every year quota owners receive ACE, Annual Catch Entitlement for each quota share they hold. This is an entitlement to catch a specific amount of fish, in […]
May 22, 2020
The Quota Management System was introduced to address fish depletion and overcapacity in the commercial sector, that is, too many people chasing too few fish. Some fish stocks were estimated to have been depleted to less than 10% of their natural stock size. The QMS was promoted as a means to rebuild depleted fish stocks, […]
May 22, 2020
The Quota Management System was introduced to New Zealand in 1986, although a form of quota had applied to some offshore fish stocks from 1983.
May 22, 2020
Research by Dr Glenn Simmons of Auckland suggests that between 1950 and 2010 commercial fishers dumped more than 14 million tonnes of unreported catch. Working Paper. In 2014 the Ministry’s Director of Fisheries Management admitted discarding [dumping] was a systemic failure and something the Ministry had not been able to get on top of from […]
May 22, 2020
The buy-back cost for inshore fish stocks is estimated to be between $0.76 and $3.1 billion, with a mid-point of $1.67 billion. The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research tested a range of scenarios and the buy-back cost varies depending if shares in just the inshore fish stocks are redeemed or all of the inshore […]
May 22, 2020
The Quota Management System prevents the restoration of our fish stocks and marine environment. This is because quota holders have become a powerful lobby that prevents effective protection measures being put in place, instead lobbying for maximum catch levels even when it is obvious that fish stocks are declining. The Government has lost its ability […]
May 21, 2020
Not any more. At the outset of the Quota Management System resource rentals were charged for every tonne of fish. The intention was to share the benefits from the commercial use of fisheries. The resource rentals no longer apply. Quota owners pay only a modest administration and research levy to help cover the conservation, research, […]
May 21, 2020
The Quota Management System is supported by the few investors that have benefited from the protection from competition granted by the QMS. The QMS enables these investors to position themselves in the value chain so they can extract rents from a market that lacks competition. In many cases the QMS has impoverished the fishermen and […]
May 21, 2020
There are differences in how Fisheries New Zealand and LegaSea count the fish stock. Fisheries NZ say there are 642 fish stocks or smaller sub-stocks in the QMS. Research shows that there are a number of fish stocks that are split into smaller management units. Some of these smaller units are assessed separately for management […]
