Rutherford TomTOM RUTHERFORD (National—Bay of Plenty): It's a great privilege to stand and speak on the Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill first reading. The purpose and objective of this bill is to enable New Zealand to better meet its international fisheries management and compliance obligations in relation to illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing including those flowing from the international arrangements that New Zealand is party to and to improve the efficiency and clarity of the statutory provisions and associated decision-making processes related to international fisheries for Government and stakeholders.Building this framework is vital to protecting not only an incredibly important industry to our New Zealand economy but to matching other nations in their efforts to block imports from those seeking to undermine the market and undercut our operators. This is all part of making sure we can sustain access to important fisheries in the Pacific and Southern Oceans. This bill updates the permitting regime to make it clearer more reasonable and more efficient. It also raises the benchmark for effective sanctions for violations of international fishing rules. There will be a new offence which will prohibit operating or engaging with any vessel that has been listed internationally as having engaged in illegal fishing. This step is global best practice approach. Actions like this showcase our commitment to being world leaders in fighting illegal fishing as we are in so many different areas. Illegal fishing can take place in several ways that make it difficult to monitor and police. In some instances it is as simple as fishing without a proper permit or licence but there are also cases of misreported catch numbers illegal fishing gear or having false identification adorning a vessel. The changes in this bill tie in with the comments from the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee inquiry around the severity that illegal unreported and unregulated fishing poses to our interests and takes action on their recommendation to have strong illegal fishing measures throughout the bill.Last year Pew Research stated that illegal fishing is one of the biggest threats to global ocean sustainability with researchers estimating that one in five fish caught globally are caught illegally. One in five is no small drop in the ocean; it's a whale of a problem especially to our $2-billion-a-year seafood export industry. Kiwi sustainability is a priority for our primary industries regardless of the sector. Consider the requirements we put in place in our red meat sector to ensure its quality and export integrity and the value it brings to our country's exports in the global market. When it comes to the high seas the lack of strength that authorities have to properly combat illegal fishing and poor fishing practice is detrimental to both the industry and our environment. So it's important to find the right balance between encouraging economic growth across the industry but also making sure we have a strong efficient framework for those who blatantly skirt the rules or try to take advantage of a flawed system and disadvantage these industries' major contribution. I have read through the wonderful departmental disclosure statement but in my five-minute contribution there's no way I could get through it so I say to the House Thank cod we are doing it." I commend this bill to the House."