4. Fisheries—Heron Report on Fish Dumping and Fisheries ReviewEUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Primary IndustriesFisheries—Heron Report on Fish Dumping and Fisheries Review4. EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to the Minister for Primary Industries: Does he stand by his predecessor's statement that Protecting our aquatic environment by setting environmental standards and fostering good fishing practices results in sustainable fisheries"?Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): Yes I do. I believe that the fundamental principles of the quota management system (QMS) are sound. This is evidenced by the fact that 96 percent of fish stocks of known value are at or above sustainable levels. However the Heron report released last Friday clearly shows that the Ministry of Primary Industries' (MPI) decision not to prosecute in the case of Operation Achilles was flawed. This was disappointing and should never have happened. The Heron report notes that MPI's processes are generally robust and its people experienced and professional. I will ensure that MPI makes whatever changes are necessary to ensure that improvements are made. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I do not mind—[Interruption] Order! I do not mind some interjection but the level coming from one member to my left is now too regular.Eugenie Sage: Is fish dumping a good practice that results in sustainable fisheries; if not why have he and his ministry failed to outlaw it?Hon NATHAN GUY: No it is not a good practice. Countries around the world have been dealing and grappling with this issue and it is mentioned in the Heron report right back from the Ministry of Fisheries through to MPI. We have the operational review The Future of our Fisheries under way. We have had one round of public consultation; we will be moving to the next round. I am sure there will need to be policy changes and regulatory changes made. The member may also be aware that I have asked my officials to crack on with electronic monitoring which is going to be very important and extra compliance.Eugenie Sage: Does the Minister disagree with the statement by the Director of Fisheries Management that "discarding is a systemic failure of the current system and something we have not been able to get on top of from day 1 of the QMS."?Hon NATHAN GUY: If the member was listening I addressed that question when I answered it previously. Dumping and discarding is an issue that successive Governments have been trying to deal with and grapple with over a period of time. The QMS is now 30 years old. We have the operational review under way and I am sure that through that process the necessary changes will be made.Eugenie Sage: Is his current operational review still just a "pulse check" and a "high-level review" as he has described it or will it address the big and longstanding systemic problems like fish dumping?Hon NATHAN GUY: The operational review The Future of our Fisheries is under way. We have had our first round of consultation. We are aiming to have a public discussion document out by the end of the year. This is a very broad review. We will need to deal with the fundamentals of policy and regulatory changes and I am of the view that I will need to come into the House to ensure that the electronic monitoring—GPS electronic monitoring and cameras on vessels will need a law change. But in saying that we have learnt from the Operation Achilles report. The Snapper 1 cameras are on board those vessels now. We have a legally binding memorandum of understanding so that all that footage can be used for prosecution purposes.Eugenie Sage: How can the public have any confidence that cameras and video monitoring will help when MPI had extensive video footage of fish dumping in Operation Achilles and senior managers blocked prosecution based on that video footage?Hon NATHAN GUY: As QC Heron states MPI's prosecution processes are generally robust with high-quality and experienced people. However a flawed process was followed that was not well-documented and that led MPI to decide not to prosecute in the case of Achilles and I find that very disappointing.Eugenie Sage: Does the Minister still think the quota management system is world leading when fish dumping means the ministry has inaccurate information about fish stocks and catch limits?Hon NATHAN GUY: I answered that in the primary answer where I said that it is evidenced by the fact that 96 percent of our fish stocks of known value are at or above sustainable levels. We do a huge amount of science and all of the plenary scientific information is publicly available. The member should be well aware that twice a year for the 1 April and 1 October fishing seasons there is a huge amount of scientific evidence that is made available that is consulted on and that ultimately the Minister decides on to ensure that our fishing system is sustainable for everyone to enjoy in the long term.Eugenie Sage: Rather than his "pulse check" review will the Minister now commission an independent review of the operation of the quota management system given the Simmons report which showed that commercial fishers were dumping more than twice the amount of fish they caught between 1986 and 2010 and now the Heron report which shows that MPI fails to prosecute such dumping?Hon NATHAN GUY: What is really interesting—in the part of that question to do with the Simmons report—is that MPI is trying to get a hold of all of the data sets to analyse that information. Because that report is so politically charged MPI has been unable to get its hands on all of that information. I find that very disappointing. Instead of that report and those authors choosing to work constructively with MPI and share their information so that we can ensure the sustainability of our long-term fisheries here in New Zealand that information has unfortunately been blocked."