Have your say
Fisheries New Zealand wants your feedback about creating a new purpose under which special permits may be approved. Special permits allow certain activity that would usually be restricted under the Fisheries Act 1996. The proposed new purpose is to allow a person or agency to manage and eradicate pest aquatic life.
Full details are in the consultation document.
Consultation document
New special permit purpose for aquatic pest species [PDF, 497 KB]
Related document
Background information on special permits [PDF, 148 KB]
Why are we proposing a new purpose?
Special permits are a fisheries management tool that enables the taking of fish, aquatic life, or seaweed for purposes including:
- investigative research
- education
- eradication and management of unwanted aquatic life
- gear trials
- any other purpose approved by the Minister of Ocean and Fisheries.
The current purposes for issuing a special permit do not fully cover the management and eradication of pest aquatic life. There is a purpose for unwanted organisms but not general pest organisms. This is partly because pest species have different legal status across regulations. Regional councils and community groups often do their own pest management using illegal fishing methods.
The new purpose will make it easier to manage or eradicate pest aquatic life.
Making your submission
Feedback on the proposed new special permit purpose must be submitted by 5pm on 9 March 2021.
Email your submission to specialpermits@mpi.govt.nz
While we prefer email, you can post submissions to:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Permitting
Fisheries New Zealand
Private Bag 14
Nelson 7042
New Zealand.
Make sure you tell us in your submission:
- the title of the consultation document
- your name and title
- your organisation's name (if you are submitting on behalf of an organisation, and whether your submission represents the whole organisation or a section of it)
- your contact details (such as phone number, address, and email).
Submissions are public information
Note that any submission you make becomes public information. People can ask for copies of submissions under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA says we have to make submissions available unless we have good reasons for withholding them. That is explained in sections 6 and 9 of the OIA.
Tell us if you think there are grounds to withhold specific information in your submission. Reasons might include that it's commercially sensitive or it's personal information. However, any decision MPI makes to withhold information can be reviewed by the Ombudsman, who may tell us to release it.
MPI may post all or parts of any written submission on its website. We'll consider that you have consented to its publication, unless clearly stated otherwise in your submission.
