Commercial Fishing

The focus of UnitedFuture’s commercial fishing policy is the “New Zealandisation” of our fisheries. We want to level the playing field so that New Zealand vessels with New Zealand crews are competitive when it comes to harvesting this resource.

It is UnitedFuture policy to:

• Require two compulsory fisheries inspectors to be present on foreign charter vessels at the expense of the New Zealand company contracting the charter to ensure QMS compliance;
• Require at least one compulsory labour inspector to be present on foreign charter vessels at the expense of the New Zealand company contracting the charter to ensure compliance with New Zealand minimum wage laws and labour conditions;
• Require that all foreign charter vessels are to remain outside a 25-mile limit;
• Require that a certain percentage of all fishing quota that is leased out by “paper” fishermen must go to New Zealanders;
• Ensure that New Zealand fishing operators can purchase fuel at the same price that international vessels can;
• Fund a comprehensive scientific study to ascertain how much damage is being caused by bottom trawling in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and what are the best ways to mitigate or prevent future damage;
• Ensure that New Zealand fishing companies advertising for New Zealand crew must offer ‘market’ wage rates rather than ‘minimum’ wage;
• Review procedures for charging “deemed values” on fish caught without a corresponding allocation of “by catch” quota to ensure that charges are set at levels that achieve a balance between discouraging illegal fishing without being overly burdensome on legitimate fishing operations.