This policy statement signals high level policy expectations for the production, manufacture and sale of novel foods cultured from animal cells. It sits alongside the New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) regulatory statement for any business proposing to import, manufacture or sell an animal cell-cultured food product for human consumption in the New Zealand market under New Zealand food legislation.

Increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events such as Cyclone Gabrielle are likely to impact seafloor marine ecosystems by accelerating soil erosion and sediment transport to the ocean by rivers.

The objective of this project was to understand sediment impacts from the February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle event on marine environments of the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne regions to enable rapid fisheries management decisions.

We conducted two vessel surveys in June and October 2023 focusing on offshore seabed environments deeper than 15 metres. As part of these surveys we mapped selected areas of the seafloor, surveyed life on the seabed using a towed underwater camera, and obtained sediment core samples.

An ocean current and sediment transport model was designed and implemented to investigate the transport and deposition of sediments after Cyclone Gabrielle. Concentrations of suspended sediments and other parameters in the surface ocean along the east coast of the North Island were estimated from satellite images. This satellite information was used to inform the sediment transport model and to characterise the spatial extent and longevity of the offshore sediment plumes generated by Cyclone Gabrielle. A Seafloor model was used to explore impacts and recovery of seafloor ecosystems following the cyclone.

The analysis of satellite images suggest that the influence of Cyclone Gabrielle lasted approximately two to three months across the Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne coastal marine areas, with surface ocean parameters largely returning to normal by May. The concentrations of suspended sediment at the ocean surface in February were significantly elevated, but they did not exceed values typical of winter months.
Seabed mapping revealed areas of significant sediment erosion, and deposition up to about one metre in thickness, at Pania Reef, Tangoio Reef and Clive outfall area in Hawke Bay. Elsewhere, sediment core observations suggested the presence of fresh muddy deposits of up to about 15 centimetres. Swell waves were resuspending muddy sediments at shallow locations for several months after the cyclone, as was evident by the low underwater visibility during camera deployments.

The abundance and diversity of the sediment fauna sampled in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne before (2010) and after Cyclone Gabrielle (June and October 2023) tended to increase away from the shore and into deeper waters. Sediment fauna were less abundant in June 2023 when compared with 2010, but appeared to be recovering by October 2023.

Seafloor animal and plant communities are highly likely to have been impacted by sediments at 11 of the 36 locations we surveyed using the towed underwater camera, as assessed by observations including (1) fresh mud layer on the seafloor, (2) animal/plant life in poor condition, and/or (3) absence of seaweed at shallow depths. However, for most of these locations a direct link to Cyclone Gabrielle cannot be demonstrated because no information on the distribution of seafloor organisms is available from before the cyclone. The likely exception is Wairoa Hard in Hawke Bay, where available information shows that kelp and sponges were present before the cyclone but were almost completely or completely absent after the cyclone. Whether this loss of habitat has led to reductions in associated fish populations is unclear.

Although limited by the availability of data, the ocean current and sediment transport model produced realistic predictions of suspended sediment concentrations and deposition at the seafloor. In the days following the cyclone, sedimentation in Hawke Bay was predicted to occur mainly close to shore in the western and central parts of the bay. In the Gisborne region, there was deposition of up to about 10 centimetres of sediments offshore of Poverty Bay and along a narrow band of the coast to the north near Tokomaru and Tolaga bays. These model predictions are broadly consistent with observations from the sediment core samples.

The Seafloor model showed small declines in structure-forming organisms such as sponges for Hawke’s Bay following Cyclone Gabrielle. These declines were not substantial, most likely because the region is already impacted by decades of fishing and increased sedimentation. The Seafloor model predicted weaker cyclone impacts for Gisborne than Hawke’s Bay and indicated that continued trawling may slow down recovery of seafloor communities following extreme weather events.

The lack of pre-cyclone information was a major obstacle in assessing the potential impacts of the cyclone on seabed ecosystems. Information collected as part of this project now form a valuable baseline that will inform future impact assessments in the region. Another limitation is the inability to use towed cameras to survey inshore habitats for extended periods because of poor underwater visibility. A precautionary approach could be warranted in the period following an extreme weather event until key habitats and ecosystems can be surveyed, and fish stocks and catch levels should be carefully monitored in the years following the event.

Sediment transport modelling is a promising tool for rapidly identifying areas most at risk from sedimentation following extreme weather events. However targeted sampling of sediment and water parameters under normal and flood conditions would help improve the accuracy and reliability of model predictions. The Seafloor model could be used to explore how spatial changes in fishing effort could enhance recovery following extreme weather events and could be improved through better information on the distribution of seafloor sediment and reefs and their associated animal and plant communities, particularly in the Gisborne region.

The impact of extreme weather events is made worse by decades of increased sedimentation in New Zealand’s marine environments. Addressing the long-term issue of sedimentation in marine ecosystems and the impacts of extreme weather events will require addressing the factors that have made New Zealand’s catchments more prone to erosion.

Limited information is available on the understanding and preferences of the young, old, pregnant, and immunocompromised consumers on food safety matters. As such the outcomes of this report will be used to inform NZFS risk management/risk communication activities i.e., the development and implementation of strategies/food safety messaging/campaigns used to engage with YOPI.

This project estimated survival of six pelagic species (southern bluefin tuna, Pacific bluefin tuna, swordfish, blue shark, mako shark, and porbeagle shark) following release from commercial fishing gear to inform a government review of their landing exceptions.

Fishery characterisations revealed that the main fishing gears responsible for discarded fish were surface longline (all species) and trawl (swordfish, mako, and porbeagle).

Literature reviews were conducted to document current knowledge on the status of an individual when brought to the vessel and ‘post-release’ survival (i.e., survival in the weeks to months following release) from these methods, as well as the factors that affect survival of each species. The key results were:

Bluefin tunas (including southern bluefin tuna and Pacific bluefin tuna) and swordfish typically have high post-release survival following capture by surface longline, with most studies reporting survival rates of 88% or greater for bluefin tunas and 50–88% for swordfish.
Blue shark have high at-vessel and post-release survival following capture by surface longline, with most studies reporting at-vessel and post-release survival rates of > 80%.

Mako have moderate to high at-vessel and post-release survival following capture by surface longline, with most studies reporting at-vessel and post-release survival rates ranging from about 50–87% and 56–94%, respectively.
Porbeagle have moderate to high at-vessel survival and variable post-release survival following capture by surface longline, with estimates of 56–79% and 25–90% for at-vessel and post-release survival, respectively.
There have been no comparable studies documenting at-vessel or post-release survival of swordfish, mako, or porbeagle from trawl.

A questionnaire was developed and circulated to fishers, fishery observers, and scientists with knowledge of each species to obtain their estimates of at-release survival (i.e., the probability the fish/shark was alive when put back into water), post-release survival, and combined survival (the probability an individual was both alive at release and survived following release) of the three shark species, and post-release survival of the thee fish species (in accordance with their current landing exceptions).

Questionnaire responses were used to derive survival probability range estimates for each species, with separate analyses conducted that included and excluded information from the literature.

For individuals released after capture by surface longline, the results of this analysis indicated post-release survival for southern bluefin tuna, Pacific bluefin tuna, and swordfish is likely to be high; blue shark are likely to have high at-release and post-release survival, and a medium-high combined survival; mako are likely to have medium at-release and medium-high post-release survival (reduced to medium if excluding information from the literature in the analysis), and low-medium combined survival; and porbeagle are likely to have low at-release survival, low-medium post-release survival, and low combined survival.

Post-release survival of swordfish released from trawl gear was likely to be low, and mako and porbeagle caught by trawl were likely to have low at-release, post-release, and combined survival.

These results, however, resulted from a small number of survey responses (only one respondent for trawl gear) and often without any comparable supporting published studies.

Survival estimates presented here should thus be interpreted with caution.

The impact of floods on the primary sector was first assessed nationally and then for the Awanui River Catchment in Northland. The analyses focused on the impacts of flooding on the primary sector, including changes in land uses as an adaption response to floods with climate change and subsequent changes in economic and environmental indicators. The specific objectives of the analysis are to:

1 quantify New Zealand’s primary sector exposure to flood hazards.

2 quantify the primary sector’s exposure and financial losses from floods in one catchment – the Awanui catchment.

3 analyse the impacts of flooding on land-use change and economic and environmental indicators.

4 evaluate economic and social welfare changes from floods-induced land-use change.

New Zealand’s Hector’s dolphins are an endangered species. A key threat to their survival is entanglement in fishing gear, including trawl nets. In this study, we report on a field trial where underwater microphones (hydrophones) were fitted to trawling equipment and the echolocation clicks naturally produced by Hector’s dolphins were localised to determine how the dolphins interacted with the trawling equipment as it moved through the water. The hydrophones were protected within custom-built cages to withstand the physical stress associated with being attached to fishing equipment that is dragged along the seabed. The field trial was conducted off the coast of Timaru, New Zealand, in September and October 2022. While the hydrophones recorded dolphin sound underwater, a Fisheries New Zealand observer on the boat also looked out for dolphins.

The protective cages around the hydrophones proved effective and we were able to successfully localise dolphins. Dolphins were localised moving towards the mouth of the fishing net from various approach angles, and, on several occasions, we were able to successfully distinguish multiple dolphins each moving along different paths. Even though we only analysed a subset of the acoustic data from each trawl, dolphin clicks were detected acoustically during trawls on more occasions than the observer on the fishing boat was able to see dolphins. Unfortunately silt from the seabed entered some of the connections between the hydrophones and the acoustic recorder, which resulted in corrupted data on some days, but overall the field trial was successful.

This study showed that listening for the presence of dolphins can be more effective than looking for dolphins from a boat. We suggest that a combination of listening and looking for dolphins would be the most effective way to detect dolphins that might be near the fishing net. In the long term, the listening system described here could be developed into a real-time warning system that alerts the fishing vessel master when dolphins are close to the fishing net. If the vessel master is aware of the dolphins, they could avoid activities that result in high-risk of entanglement, such as sharp turns or drawing in the net at the end of the trawl. Dolphin detection could also help with targeted use of devices that encourage the dolphins to move away from the high-risk areas—such devices emit noise and should be used as little as possible to minimise noise pollution and disturbance to the dolphins.

This study used a model of individual eco-physiological response to environmental and climate factors to derive population level outcomes of fish stocks. These simulations were used to investigate how fisheries stock assessments are influenced by climate and bottom-up variability in production parameters. The assessments generally provided unbiased estimates of stock status even though there were annual and decadal fluctuations in all production-related parameters.