Some fish are managed under international agreements that New Zealand has signed up to. Find out about the monitoring and reporting requirements for internationally managed species.
Permit required to fish in international waters
Operators of New Zealand registered vessels must have a high seas fishing permit to catch or transport fish on the high seas. Some regional fisheries agreements have additional requirements to the high seas fishing permit.
New Zealand commercial fishers and exporters of internationally managed species must meet certain international monitoring and reporting requirements. These include documenting catch according to any relevant regional fisheries management agreements and tagging southern bluefin tuna.
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CCSBT — southern bluefin tuna
About CCSBT reporting
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) is the regional fisheries management organisation that manages southern bluefin tuna. To meet our international obligations under the CCSBT, New Zealand uses the southern bluefin tuna catch documentation scheme (CDS).
What you need to do
Under the CDS, commercial fishers must:
notify MPI if they intend to fish for southern bluefin tuna or are likely to catch them while targeting other species
tag each southern bluefin tuna caught on a New Zealand vessel (whether in New Zealand waters or on the high seas) with a CDS tag at time of capture. MPI will provide you with tags each calendar year.
The licensed fish receiver that you supply your fish to must complete all necessary Catch tagging forms, Catch monitoring forms, and Re-export or export after landingforms and send a copy of the forms to MPI.
Tagging and documentation requirements apply to all southern bluefin tuna, whether being sold for export or domestically.
CDS tracks and monitors fishery
These tagging and reporting requirements are part of CCSBT's catch documentation scheme to track trade, monitor the fishery, and prevent illegal fishing for southern bluefin tuna. Only legally-caught, tagged and documented southern bluefin tuna will be accepted by markets in countries that cooperate with the CCSBT. Fisher and licensed fish receiver obligations under the CDS are explained in the Fisheries (Southern Bluefin Tuna Catch Documentation Scheme) Regulations 2017.
New Zealand manages its CCSBT allocation of southern bluefin tuna through the quota management system while making sure it meets CCSBT monitoring and reporting requirements.
New Zealand is not a member of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) or the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) but cooperates with the trade schemes put in place by these commissions.
This document must be stamped and signed by an MPI authorised validator. Number the document using the first 4 digits of your NZQA authorised trade validator number/catch year/sequential report number for the year. For example, if your NZQA number is 3333, the fish are caught in the 2017 to 2018 fishing year and it is the fourth report, the document number would be 3333/1718/004.
Send the original with the consignment, keep a copy for your files, and send a copy (by the fifteenth day of the month following the export) to:
Highly Migratory Species Fisheries Ministry for Primary Industries PO Box 2526 Wellington 6011
CCAMLR — Patagonian toothfish
About the CCAMLR catch documentation scheme
Patagonian toothfish fishing activity is regulated by the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Only fishing vessels approved and licensed by CCAMLR members may fish for toothfish within the CCAMLR Convention Area.
CCAMLR uses a catch documentation scheme (CDS) for toothfish species (Dissostichus spp.) to:
combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
ensure the sustainability of the toothfish fishery in the convention area
ensure fishing vessels (flagged to its members) in the convention area comply with conservation measures.
The CDS allows CCAMLR to:
track catch, movements, and trade of fish from the convention area
Commercial New Zealand fishers fishing in the CCAMLR Convention Area must provide electronic reports of toothfish catch and effort to the CCAMLR secretariat and MPI.
New Zealand commercial fishers fishing in the New Zealand exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and other EEZs must also report toothfish catch through the CCAMLR reporting system.
Fishers must report:
trip dates
fish species caught
estimated fish weight
area caught
movement of fish to another ship or landing details.
