Parker DavidFISHERIES AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Thank you Mr Speaker. I present a legislative statement on the Fisheries Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon DAVID PARKER: Thank you sir. I move That the Fisheries Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Primary Production Committee to consider the Fisheries Amendment Bill and at the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be reported to the House by 12 September 2022.This bill is needed to strengthen and modernise New Zealand's fisheries management system to create a more sustainable higher-value operating model for fisheries and to better incentivise good commercial fishing practices. The fisheries management system overall has served New Zealand well. However it is a product of its time and it reflects the science and technology that was available when it was developed in the 1980s and 1990s and because of some of those constraints within the system there are disincentives for better fishing practice which can reduce the catch of unwanted fish. Current rules contribute to commercial fishers catching too much and then discarding too much both in terms of less-valuable species and different-sized fish. This of course has an effect on the fishery which has an effect on the economics as well as the sustainability of the resource. Perhaps one of the most serious aspects of the current regime is the illegal discarding of unwanted fish. This was shown under the last National Government when Operations Achilles and Hippocamp came to light and as a consequence the then Minister the Hon Nathan Guy kicked off some of the measures that are ending up in this in respect of the likes of cameras on boats. When we get better rules we can also start to improve some of the offence provisions that are in the existing Act. Historically because fisheries offending has been so hard to detect when it is detected normally far out at sea far from the public eye the penalties for these hard to detect breaches have been very severe so as to disincentivise them and now that we've got new technologies such as on-board cameras we've got the opportunity for improved monitoring and verification and for consequential changes to offence provisions. The bill seeks to address the issues of both legal and illegal discards by simplifying and strengthening the current rules around what fish and aquatic life can be landed and what can be returned to sea. In response to these new rules the bill proposes to introduce new graduated offences rules to improve the effectiveness of on-board cameras and related cost-recovery arrangements and it also makes some changes to enable quicker decision-making in respect of fishing perhaps within a fishing year in a way that will be good for the industry as well as the environment. The bill also proposes to introduce a new defence to allow commercial fishers to lawfully return catch to the sea when necessary to save protected species. Strangely that's currently illegal. These changes sit within the reform agenda that we've got going which includes the introduction of electronic catch and position reporting and on-board cameras being rolled out across most of the inshore fleet. By simultaneously improving the level of monitoring and verification of catch with on-board cameras reducing the ability of fishers to illegally return unwanted catch to the sea and providing for proportionate offences and penalties we will incentivise better fishing practices.With respect to new landings and discard rules the bill amends the Fisheries Act and associated regulations to clarify that all quota management fish caught by commercial fishers must be landed and accounted for within the fisheries management system unless they fall within an exception that has been issued by the Minister. The bill proposes to establish three criteria for the Minister to consider when issuing exceptions for returning catch to the sea. These are firstly whether the stock or species has an acceptable likelihood of survival; secondly whether retention will have a negative economic value—by that they mean whether it's going to spoil other catch in the hold; for example ammoniating catch species if in the hold it will ruin the other fish—and also to consider whether in some cases mandatory returns are needed for biological fishing management or ecosystem purposes. Some current exceptions of stocks and species will meet the new criteria and will continue in place. Most stocks and species will be transitioned into the new system over a four-year period. This will start with the most significant species by catch volume or by proportion of total landings. I expect that within the first two years exceptions covering 75 percent of the catches of fish below the minimum legal size and 97 percent of live releases under Schedule 6 will be reviewed.As part of the transition there will also be amendments to fishing regulations to reflect the new system and these amendments will be in place before the end of the transition period—i.e. 30 September 2026. The transition period is also needed to allow fishers some time to adjust their operations and to develop ways of creating value from currently unwanted fish. The bill enables through regulations new ways that fishers can dispose of unwanted catch on land. Under current settings they've got to deliver their fish to a licensed fish receiver or through wharf sales with some limited exceptions but there's no obligation on the likes of the licensed fish receiver to accept all catch. So new regulations will give fishers access to other legal ways to dispose of their catch on land where it is appropriate which will be in very limited circumstances. As I've said the bill alters the penalties regime. The maximum penalty for the most serious offending will be retained but an infringement and demerit point system will be developed through regulation to address lower-level repeat offending.Changes are also needed to support the effective use of on-board cameras. The bill clarifies that all commercial fishing - related activities can be effectively observed by equipment such as on-board cameras. The bill also clarifies that tools such as on-board cameras that are used to develop a service that is cost-recoverable can be cost-recovered. There are also changes being made through the opportunity this bill presents to enable faster rule changes at times within a season. Things are pretty sticky at the moment and sensible changes are prevented so we're trying to update this. For example there could be a pre-agreed range of catch enabled in advance and triggered within a season so that they can be used for the benefit of the industry or if we're approaching a sustainability limit for the benefit of the environment. The bill also proposes similar changes to amateur fishing regulations by empowering the Minister to specify recreational management controls in a regulatory instrument.In respect of the protected species defence currently no defence is available for returning catch to the sea for the purpose of saving or releasing protected species like sharks and rays. The bill proposes a new defence provision that will allow commercial fishers to return those to ensure their survival—not just protected race and shark species but also marine mammals. There has already been extensive consultation on these proposals over the years and indeed some of these changes have been long called for but really couldn't be made until we had funded cameras on boats. So that consultation has included another round between February and March 2019 and has shaped the policy proposals in the bill. Continued engagement after the bill passes will be integral to successful implementation. This is going to the Primary Production Committee. It is an important process. I look forward to receiving the select committee report at the completion of their deliberations and I encourage people to submit. I commend the bill to the House.