Fishing Quota and the Quota Management System

New Zealand is a small landmass in the South Pacific but has one of the world’s largest Exclusive Economic fishing zones (EEZ) extending 200 miles out from the country’s coastline.

New Zealand’s EEZ is the fourth largest in the world but 65% of it is too deep to fish or is closed to commercial fishing. The major fisheries stocks in New Zealand’s EEZ are controlled by the Quota Management System (QMS). Government agencies and the New Zealand fishing industry work together to assess the stock levels of species managed under the QMS and every year the Minister of Fisheries sets a Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) limit for each species. To find out more you can visit the Ministry of Fisheries site.

Quota Management

Product	Total TACC	Sealord ITQ	% of TACC
Hoki	120,010	36,006	30.0
Orange Roughy	8,221	2,313	28.1
Squid	127,332	28,051	22.0
Oreo Dories	18,860	4,930	26.1
Ling	22,226	5,723	25.7
Hake	13,211	3,716	28.1
Silver Warehou	10,380	1,955	18.8
Southern Blue Whiting	43,408	11,507	26.5
Gemfish	1,060	228	21.5
Barracouta	32,672	5,165	15.8
Jack Mackerel	60,547	10,138	16.7
Red Cod	8,278	563	6.8
Blue Warehou	4,512	683	15.1
English Mackerel	11,550	1,287	11.1
Alfonsino	2,996	1,085	36.2
Others	124,578	5,430	4.4
Total	609,843	118,780	19.5
Sealord Quota Holdings as at 1 October 2010 (in Green Weight Tonnes)

New Zealand’s Quota Management System

Introduced in 1986, the Quota Management System (QMS) is Government policy and is actively supported by the New Zealand fishing industry. It allows the Government to adjust the annual catch to ensure fish stocks remain at a sustainable level.

Sealord Quota

Our vessels fish all over the globe. We have secure access to more than 19% (about 119,000 green weight tonnes) of the total fishing quota in the New Zealand 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone. See our fishing quota table for details. We are also a partner in Westfleet, a company based in Greymouth, which holds quota for inshore species.

We have expanded our fishing base to other Hoki, Orange Roughy and Toothfish fisheries in the Southern Hemisphere, including the waters of South America, Australia, the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean. We own Argentinean fishing company Yuken, which fishes for Argentinean Hoki and Hake (Hubbsi). Joint ventures include: a Tasmanian company which fishes in Australian waters and in the waters of Heard and McDonald Islands, and a New Zealand joint venture which sends longliners to fish in the Ross Sea area under a permit from the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Our Antarctic Toothfish fishing operations have been certified as sustainable by the internationally recognised Marine Stewardship Council.