7. Fisheries—Regulation of Industry and FishServeEUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Primary IndustriesFisheries—Regulation of Industry and FishServe7. EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Primary Industries: Does he stand by his statement that FishServe has no conflict of interest" in its role monitoring the fishing industry despite being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seafood New Zealand?Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Associate Minister for Primary Industries) on behalf of the Minister for Primary Industries: Yes because FishServe provides administrative services; it has no regulatory or monitoring function. It is like a mailbox for collecting data. It has been publicly operating for over 20 years with no issue and with a range of checks and balances on the data collected. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is the regulatory body not FishServe.Eugenie Sage: Can the Minister confirm that in 2013 he gave FishServe the power to determine when bans on commercial fishing should take effect in overfished areas; if so how is this not an example of the industry regulating itself?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: There were some minor changes made to FishServe's contract in 2013 that were of an administrative nature. I confirm my comment earlier that the regulatory body and the one that monitors is the Ministry for Primary Industries.Eugenie Sage: Has the Minister read Part 3 clause 14 of the Order in Council he signed in 2013 that gave FishServe the powers to monitor overfishing thresholds and determine when conditions to prohibit the taking of fish would take effect?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said there are a number of checks and balances in place to ensure that the data received by FishServe is valid and accurate. These include observers vessel inspections and an annual audit. In addition MPI reconciles fishers' monthly harvest returns and catch effort data with data that is provided from the licensed fish receivers. When this data does not align fisheries officers are alerted to follow up. Those follow-ups often lead to prosecution. Eugenie Sage: Can the Minister confirm that in 2013 he also gave FishServe the power to exempt commercial fishers from bans preventing overfishing; if so how is that not an example of the industry regulating itself?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I have said the regulator of the fishing industry is MPI; it regulates and it monitors. FishServe has been operating for 20 years and its function is the collection of data which is then analysed and monitored by independent regulators.Eugenie Sage: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I have asked two very specific questions about provisions in the Order in Council and the Minister has not answered either of them.Mr SPEAKER: I agree entirely with the member. She did not raise it after the earlier supplementary question. I will invite the member to repeat the last supplementary question and I will allow an additional supplementary question as well.Eugenie Sage: Thank you. Can the Minister confirm that in 2013 in an Order in Council he gave FishServe the power to exempt commercial fishers from bans preventing overfishing; if so how is that not an example of the industry regulating itself?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I have said MPI is the regulator and this is not an instance where FishServe is dictating what occurs. There are a number of decisions that this Government is making. If the member wants details on that specific item I would just suggest she put it down in writing.Eugenie Sage: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister does not appear to know what is in the Order in Council—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No where the member is now in trouble is she has asked two supplementary questions in that one question. The first part has not been addressed but the Minister has taken the opportunity very clearly of addressing the second supplementary question. The member again needs to read the rules and ask a single supplementary question.Eugenie Sage: Does the Minister accept that it is possible that FishServe could be influenced by the fishing industry given that Seafood New Zealand CEO Tim Pankhurst sits on its board and FishServe shares its offices with three other industry organisations?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: FishServe is a group that is set up as part of the industry body—it is not uncommon in many other industries—where it serves functions that provide support to its members. There is not a conflict of interest here as the member suggests because MPI is the regulator.Eugenie Sage: Does this mean that the Minister agrees with his ministry which insisted yesterday that there is nothing wrong with the fishing industry being allowed to monitor itself? Hon LOUISE UPSTON: I am hoping the member is aware that there is a significant body of work that is being undertaken by this Government about the future of fisheries which is traversing a number of issues that I am sure the member is interested in. Whether it is rolling out cameras whether it is GPS tracking or whether it is electronic reporting this will provide the greatest level of transparency ever and actually is world leading and I hope that member is supporting it.Eugenie Sage: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a very simple question about whether the Minister—Mr SPEAKER: Yes. I will invite the member to ask the question again.Eugenie Sage: Thank you. Does this mean he agrees with his ministry which insisted yesterday that there is nothing wrong with the fishing industry being allowed to monitor itself?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I have said before FishServe collects the data and provides it to MPI which has the regulatory function.Eugenie Sage: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It was a question about whether the Minister agreed with statements by the ministry. The Minister has not answered that question.Mr SPEAKER: No I think on this occasion—the second time—I think probably the answer is yes. I think the member is looking for a yes or no answer. The Speakers' rulings are quite clear that you cannot demand a yes or no answer to a question. The question on this occasion has been addressed but the member still has a further supplementary question I think if she wants one.Eugenie Sage: Why is the Minister not concerned that FishServe which is overseeing decisions about fishing bans meant to prevent overfishing is literally being run by the fishing industry?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I have said before the industry does not regulate itself. FishServe purely provides administrative services; it does not have a regulatory function and it does not have a monitoring function. Question No. 6 to MinisterRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): I seek leave to table five documents. The first is the Ministry for Primary Industries' Official Information Act (OIA) request correspondence of 23 February the second is Dairy New Zealand's submission on the proposed importation of mushroom-growing medium the third is the submission of the New Zealand Equine Health Association on a similar matter the fourth is a 2005 technical paper from the University of Minnesota about a similar matter and the fifth is a 2010 journal paper from the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research entitled "Degradation of foot-and-mouth disease virus [etc. etc.]".Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table those five documents: an OIA response Dairy New Zealand's submission an equine submission something from the University of Minnesota and a Canadian scientific paper. The—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well not as a package—one by one.Mr SPEAKER: Order! No I am putting the leave for all five to be tabled. Is there any objection to those items being tabled? There is objection."