Parker DavidHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Tēnā koe. The Minister will be aware that orange roughy is one of the species targeted by New Zealand bottom trawling vessels fishing in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management area. Like other deep-sea species orange roughy are long-lived living up to 120 or 130 years. They're slow growing they mature late and that makes the species very vulnerable to over-fishing and catches have certainly crashed since the 1980s because of over-fishing.New Zealand's annual report to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation in September last year showed that orange roughy catches in areas such as Lord Howe Rise the Northwest Challenger bank had dropped significantly compared to 2019 and earlier years despite the overall number of tows increasing. So is the Minister aware of any concerns from fisheries observers Fisheries New Zealand fisheries companies or others involved in the orange roughy fishery or its management about catch rates for orange roughy the health of orange roughy fish stocks signs of stock decline either in New Zealand waters or the South Pacific and if he is aware of concerns how are they being investigated and addressed and will he ensure that any concerns or any other relevant information about the health of the orange roughy fishery in both New Zealand waters and the South Pacific are made public before the Deepwater Group or other fishing companies apply to the Marine Stewardship Council for recertification of orange roughy?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): The member will be aware that in respect of stocks within the New Zealand exclusive economic zone (EEZ) there is a cycle of assessments of the health of those stocks. Orange roughy hasn't been assessed under the most recent of those sustainability rounds because we've just done one and it wasn't in there. From memory it wasn't in the prior one. I can't recall offhand for the House when it is scheduled to next come up but the member is right that in yesteryear there were assumptions as to the abundance of that fish and there were mistakes made including probably the underestimation of the age of the stock and the age that they had to get to before they reproduced. Those lessons have been learnt and are now taken into account in respect of the EEZ stocks.In respect of the offshore stocks beyond the EEZ in the international waters that are handled through organisations like the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation that's a slightly different process because they don't have our quota management system. But again we try to assist those bodies by providing the information that we know from the management of our own stocks in order to manage them sustainably.Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Staying with oceans in terms of the negotiations that were happening with the United Nations on a global oceans treaty and the target of some countries of protecting 30 percent of the high seas by 2030 what position on that issue of 30 percent protection of the high seas did Aotearoa New Zealand take to the negotiations at the United Nations? Has New Zealand been encouraged or lobbied by other countries to join that call for 30 percent protection? Has the Government consulted with our Pacific neighbours such as Palau which supports the call? And if the Government doesn't support the 30 percent protection of the high seas why not? And if the Government hasn't made a decision yet what are the reasons for the delay and when can we expect a decision?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Oceans and Fisheries): Some of those issues lie within the responsibility of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade rather than me as Fisheries. I think that the answer though to assist the member that the member got from a question to the Minister of Foreign Affairs recently was that those issues were being considered by Cabinet and a decision is envisaged before the next meeting when those positions have to be put by the New Zealand Government to that body.