Prosser Richard: Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Prosser Richard: Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 14 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7901. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
RICHARD PROSSER (NZ First) 
: 
 I am pleased to rise on behalf of New Zealand First to take a call on this the first reading of the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. I would also like to join with my colleague the Hon Damien O’Connor in congratulating the Minister for Primary Industries on bringing this bill to the House. 
New Zealand First agrees with the broad aims of this bill and we are pleased to support its referral to the Primary Production Committee where some of the minor concerns that we do have may be addressed. In addition we hope that during the select committee examination of this bill and the submissions that it will undoubtedly attract there may be an opportunity to include the prohibition of shark finning within the bill’s ambit as we feel this is a very necessary addition to the New Zealand fisheries management that is not covered elsewhere in the law. At present the finning of live sharks that is the removal of fins from sharks that are still alive is not permitted within New Zealand’s jurisdiction. But there is no prohibition on the practice of removing fins from dead sharks and then returning the remainder of the carcass to the ocean. New Zealand First regards this practice as incredibly wasteful particularly so in a world of growing populations and shrinking resources. Whether sharks are caught deliberately as a target species or as bycatch from other fishing activities we believe the entire animal needs to be harvested and made use of. We feel the best way of achieving this is to require sharks to be brought ashore with fins naturally attached as is the best practice advocated by New Zealand Shark Alliance and others. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Why is he speaking in our House? 
RICHARD PROSSER 
: Because this a democracy that allows free speech Mr Henare. There is some resistance we know from within the fishing industry due to constraints on boat space and the limited market that currently exists for some shark species. But it is our belief that the adoption of this methodology will allow for both the better utilisation of the resource and the minimisation of the risk of live finning which although illegal still has the potential to be carried out out at sea beyond the view of our limited number of inspectors and observers. 
In general terms New Zealand First salutes the decision to require all vessels operating in our fishery to be New Zealand flagged. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: He should leave this House. 
RICHARD PROSSER 
: I am quite sure Mr Henare you will be leaving the House before I do. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: You should leave the House. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Order! Order! These interjections across the cross benches—tone it down. I am calling Richard Prosser I would like to hear what the member has to say. 
Hon Tau Henare 
: You’re the only one in New Zealand Mr Speaker. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch) 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! That is an attack on the Chair. I will ask the member to refrain from such comments. 
RICHARD PROSSER 
: Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. In general terms New Zealand First salutes the decision to require all vessels operating our fishery to be New Zealand flagged. We applaud this as the central plank of this bill and we are pleased that it will mean that crews working on boats within our jurisdiction will receive the protection— 
Colin King 
: Hey Richard just speak a bit slower. 
RICHARD PROSSER 
: —of New Zealand’s labour laws and the benefits of wages guaranteed at New Zealand domestic rates. Thank you Mr King. At present too many vessels operating in our waters do not meet our standards of health and safety. Too many crews suffer under conditions that we would describe as manifestly insufficient—working for wages which as other members have alluded to border on slavery. This bill will address those realities in a very tangible way and we applaud its construction and intent with regard to that but we do question that it will take another 3 years for these changes to come to pass. 
We salute the direction that this bill is taking the New Zealand fishing industry in but we struggle to comprehend why it will be 1 May 2016 before all fishing vessels operating in New Zealand’s waters are New Zealand flagged and subject to New Zealand laws. For three more years what are currently largely foreign crews on the largely foreign-owned charter fishing vessels that dominate our fishery will continue to have to suffer under the inadequate conditions as they exist. New Zealand First asks why it should take this long for the changes to be implemented. We hold genuine concerns that the real reason may be pressure from within the fishing industry itself which puts economic concerns the cost associated with additional wages and the upgrading of vessels ahead of the welfare of crews. We are concerned by that. We would be very concerned if that were indeed the case. We certainly hope it is not and we look forward to having this issue examined in the select committee. 
We also have a concern that although the regime initiated by this bill will vastly improve conditions and pay for the crews involved the reality is that a majority of those crews will still be foreign citizens and the bulk of the increased pay that they receive will still disappear overseas. New Zealand First is very keen to promote the “New Zealandisation” of the fishing industry and we would very much like to see an industry where the majority of boats operating are New Zealand - owned and are crewed by New Zealand citizens. We realise however that the demands of deep-sea fishing and the requirement to follow the tides and the weather rather than a fixed working-week calendar mean that in some cases it is not always going to be possible to find New Zealand residents to fill crew requirements. 
 We wonder whether this is one of those cases where a degree of targeted immigration may be necessary and indeed desirable in order to provide our fishery with the pool of skilled labour that it requires. I would add that my Labour colleague Moana Mackey’s suggestion of a 50-percent minimum quota sounds very much like an elegant partial solution to this problem. New Zealand First sees this as being one more way in which a maximum return from our fishery resource may be retained in New Zealand. 
Lastly New Zealand First is eager to hear the views of the public the fishing industry and other interested parties on these concerns and on other aspects of the bill. We are pleased to support its timely allocation to the Primary Production Committee where it can be examined progressed and adjusted as and where necessary under the fine stewardship of Mr Ardern. New Zealand First is pleased to be voting in support of the first reading of this bill. Thank you.