May 10, 2018
Fish reporting scaled up
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has released a discussion paper on changes to regulations to allow a further roll out of digital monitoring technology across the commercial fishing fleet.
Since October 2107 fishing trawlers over 28 metres in length, which include most of the deepwater fleet, have recorded catches through e-logbooks and reported their position through geospatial position reporting.
This form of digital monitoring is to be extended to the rest of the commercial fishing fleet and land-based fishers.
Mr Nash says the regulation review won’t include on-board cameras, but work is continuing on how a camera regime will work.
The consultation also seeks feedback on changes to regulations for innovative trawl technology.
Maori-owned Moana New Zealand wants to shift its inshore fleet to the new Precision Harvesting system, which has the potential to reduce by-catch and minimise damage to fish during trawls.
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