Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:13220] 
4.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Fisheries 
: Does he have confidence in the quota management system to protect New Zealand’s fisheries from overfishing; if so why? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Minister of Fisheries) 
: 
 Yes and I can do no better than to agree with the member herself when she said in November 2002 that the quota management system “has improved management of those stocks for which more reliable data exists. It is a good framework for safeguarding individual stocks provided we add other controls to it”. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Was data from the quota management system the information used by the Marine Stewardship Council in 2001 when it gave its sustainable management accreditation to the New Zealand hoki fishery; if so how is it that 3 years later the western hoki stock is found to be 20 percent or less of its original biomass? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: That ongoing stock assessment is partly through a public process and in due course will inform the advice that I take from the ministry which will lead to my assessment of further stock. 
Janet Mackey 
: What evidence can the Minister give of the success of New Zealand’s fisheries management system? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: New Zealand’s fisheries are profitable and efficient do not receive Government subsidies have a high degree of certainty about future supply—due to the establishment of property rights which allows long-term planning—and are managed so that the needs of commercial customary and recreational users are all considered. 
Phil Heatley 
: Why is the Minister looking to extend the quota management system outside New Zealand waters to cover tuna and other migratory fish when his ministry is already struggling with hoki snapper scampi aquaculture endless court battles and poachers inside New Zealand waters? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: Members and most New Zealanders would agree on the desirability of extending the quota management system to as many species as possible as soon as possible. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is the Minister failing to acknowledge the importance of the kahawai fishery to the people of New Zealand; and is it not a fact that by allowing kahawai to be part of the quota management system he will fail to manage that fishery in the interests of all New Zealanders and in particular of recreational fishers? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I suggest to the member that he await the decision on the kahawai quota and its introduction to the quota management system in about 6 weeks’ time. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the western hoki fishery not following the same path as that of the orange roughy fishery—also under the quota management system—which was closed a few years ago because it had declined to 3 percent of its original biomass? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I can assure the member that the sustainability of the fishery will be my prime consideration in the allocation of quota. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Has anything changed in the 5 years since the Auditor-General wrote in his report to Parliament: “We conclude therefore that the Ministry manages most fish stocks without being sure if this management is sustainable.”; if not are not all the fish stocks the Minister is currently putting into the quota management system also at risk? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: In answer to the first question yes the amount of data available is constantly increasing. In answer to the second question no. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: What will he do to restore the reputation of New Zealand fish exports in Europe which actively seeks sustainably managed fish and which will now be aware that the certified sustainable hoki fishery kills hundreds of fur seals and endangered albatrosses and petrels every year? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I am somewhat disappointed and surprised that the questioner is impugning New Zealand's reputation overseas and I hope that her interest in sustainable fishery will be evidenced by the Green Party supporting the introduction of scampi into the quota management system as soon as possible.