Davidson ReubenREUBEN DAVIDSON (Labour—Christchurch East): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm grateful for the opportunity to take a call on this bill the Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023. As the Labour spokesperson for communication and digital technology I usually spell fishing with a ph" but this is a bill about the original fishing—on the sea not the internet. So it's fishing with an "f".Helen White: Finally a good pun.REUBEN DAVIDSON: More seriously—I've got a list of puns here. I could go all day. More seriously the comedy is over. As global citizens we need to take our responsibilities seriously when it comes to IUU illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. And why is that? Because not doing so is a threat to sustainability of regional and global fisheries. New Zealand has one of the largest economic exclusion zones in the world and we fish in several international fisheries. We need to make sure international fisheries are well managed. If we don't do that we'll fall short of our international obligations and we'll put at risk our reputation as a responsible fishing nation.Now we earnt this reputation by developing international and regional frameworks standards and rules to support sustainable use of fisheries to support the protection of the marine environment to support building bilateral and regional fisheries relationships to support trade and access to overseas markets and by working together to manage fisheries in other countries—especially with our Pacific Island neighbours—ultimately by aiming to get the most economic and other benefits for New Zealand from international fisheries whilst still managing the effects of fishing on the environment ensuring that it is sustainable and meeting our international obligations.The great thing about this bill is that it deepens that commitment. It strengthens and clarifies the permitting regime for New Zealand flag vessels fishing outside New Zealand's waters and it does that by amending the provisions related to the high-seas fishing permitting scope. It increases New Zealand's capacity to control its vessels operating outside New Zealand waters and to clarify the decision-making process for that. And it gives some teeth to the issuing suspending and revoking of permits—teeth to the issuing suspending and revoking of permits. And that is very important because those teeth that strength comes from the adjustment of administrative penalties. This bill lifts those penalties.It adjusts the administrative penalty regime for breaches of international fishing permit conditions for greater effectiveness and proportionality. It does this by increasing the maximum amounts for administrative penalties and by broadening the scope of the activities to which they apply. This seeks to improve the administrative penalties regime to disincentivise offending and reserve prosecutions for serious fisheries violations. It provides for a broader range of offences to be covered to improve the proportionality of administrative penalties to the relevant offending. The chief executive will be able to impose those penalties to a broader range of offences that do not necessarily warrant a prosecution—mid-level as well as minor offending.The combined amendments will better incentivise compliance with the rules of regional fisheries management organisations and better align with member States' expectations in those organisations and it preserves the right of offending to be dealt with by a court. It also requires administrative decisions to be published to ensure the transparency of the offending and preserves the right of the person to require that offence to be dealt with by a court. Those three functions will ensure that the bill's objectives can be achieved and that operators realise there are enforceable ramifications to poor conduct or illegal actions. This bill effectively strengthens our commitment to being a responsible fishing nation.Now a member referred earlier to it also being able to manage impacts on sharks and stingrays and I'd suggest potentially some notes be included on that one in the Cabinet Manual as well. As global citizens we need to take our responsibilities seriously when it comes to illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. This bill does that. I commend this bill to the House."