Fisheries observer services

What fisheries observers do

Fisheries Observers help us to manage our fisheries sustainably. They collect information onboard commercial fishing vessels to independently verify data on fish being caught. They also collect information about:

marine mammals and seabirds (by-catch and sightings)
biological information to help with assessing fish stocks
unusual specimens for museums
information about vessel safety and employment
fish processing information.

Observers provide independent data on fishing catch and effort

The data that observers collect is independent. They compare it against data from the fishing boats. They keep a separate logbook recording catch and effort. This includes catch information and amounts for all species caught. They also record details of fishing operations, like:

start and finish times
positions and places where fish were caught
fishing and bottom depths
devices and practices to protect protected species (like seabirds and marine mammals)
catch data for each tow or set.

Data collected for other agencies

Observers collect information for Fisheries New Zealand as well as for:

Number of days that observers spend at sea

When it comes to planning how many observers are required to be at sea for different fisheries, Fisheries New Zealand and the Department of Conservation work together each year to develop a 'seadays plan'.

These plans always run from 1 July to 30 June of the next year. Seadays are also used to determine how much money is cost-recovered from the different quota holders.

2024–2025 observer seadays plan

The following tables show the current number of seadays planned for each fishery and the total delivered up to 2 August 2024.

Inshore fisheries

Middle-depth fisheries

Deepwater fisheries

Highly migratory

Other fisheries

Inshore fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
North Island trawl(SNA 1, SNA 8, TAR 2)	30	30	60	23
East Coast South Island trawl	27.5	27.5	55	6
Set net – East & South coast South Island	15	15	30	0
Set net – butterfish (BUT 5)	7.5	7.5	15	0
Hapuku & Bass (HPB2) bottom long-line	7.5	7.5	15	0
Blue cod potting (BCO3)	5	5	10	0
Blue cod potting (BCO5)	5	5	10	0
Crayfish 2 - potting	47.5	2.5	50	0
Crayfish 5 - potting	47.5	2.5	50	0
Crayfish 7 - potting	38	2	40	0
Crayfish 8 - potting	57	3	60	0

Deepwater (Middle-depth) fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Southern blue whiting	200	50	250	0
Squid	1275	225	1500	0
West Coast North Island	297.5	52.5	350	0
West Coast South Island	340	60	400	301
Chatham Rise Middle Depth	510	90	600	0
Sub-Antarctic Middle Depth	425	75	500	13
Hoki Cook Strait	107	19	126	30
WCSI Hoki-Inside the line	107	19	126	25
Scampi 6A	180	45	225	36
Scampi Other	368	92	460	25
LIN BLL >34m	102	18	120	65
<34m Mixed BLL	62	11	73	0
LIN - potting	85.5	4.5	90	8

Deepwater (other) fisheries

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
North Island Deepwater	99	11	110	16
Chatham Rise Deepwater	261	29	290	51
Sub-Antarctic Deepwater	90	10	100	0
West Coast Deepwater	63	7	70	31

Highly migratory species

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Domestic surface long-line – North Island	25.5	4.5	30	0
Domestic surface long-line – South Island	25.5	4.5	30	0

Other

Fishery¹	Compliance	Requested days/permit requirements (industry)	Total planned	Total achieved
Compliance	100		100	0
CCAMLR¹		200	200	0
SPFRMO¹ trawl		50	50	12
SPRFMO¹ bottom long-line		30	30	0
SPRFMO¹ Exploratory bottom long-line		0	0	0
Days provided on request (VSCF/OAD)		300	300	49
Camera high priority exemptions		20	20	0

¹CCAMLR – Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources, SPFRMO – South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, WCPFC – Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Management Commission

Fishery	Stock management and environment (Fisheries NZ)	Conservation (DOC)	Total planned	Total achieved
Training	0	0	0	0

What proportion of commercial fishing is monitored by a fisheries observer?

The best way of understanding how much fishing is independently verified by a fisheries observer is through measuring fishing effort.

Find out about commercial fishing monitored by observers

If an observer is on your boat

You must take an observer on your boat if we ask you to. This is a requirement under the Fisheries Act 1996. You must provide them with:

food
accommodation
access to the boat, records, fish, crew, and equipment
full access to communication devices on the boat
help to complete their duties.

Observers are not enforcement officers. However, they must record any potential offences that they observe.

Heath and safety assessment before leaving port

A commercial fishing boat must pass a health and safety assessment before it leaves port with an observer on it. This helps us to meet obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. Fisheries New Zealand does the assessment.

We're making a risk assessment process

We're making a risk assessment process for boats that will have an observer on board. This will help to:

work out how often your boat needs a health and safety assessment
reduce disruption that the assessments might cause
help everyone with meeting their health and safety obligations.

What the assessment involves

We have assessment forms for both inshore and deepwater boats. Fishers should read these to make sure they understand what the assessments will involve.

We've updated these in response to COVID-19.

Deep water pre-placement health and safety assessment form [PDF, 137 KB]

Inshore pre-placement health and safety assessment form [PDF, 137 KB]