New Zealand EEZ southern blue whiting pelagic trawl fishery
Last Updated: 19 January 2012
Number of fisheries: 1
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Species
Southern blue whiting (Micromesistius australis)
MSC assessment status
The certification body, Intertek Moody Marine, has announced that the Public Comment Draft Report for the New Zealand EEZ southern blue whiting pelagic trawl fishery is now available for comment for a period of 30 days. Any stakeholder wishing to comment on the report is invited to contact Jo Akroyd no later than 5pm GMT, 20 February 2012.
Stakeholders are advised that they are to provide objective evidence in support of any additional claims or any claimed errors of fact in their response to the Public Comment Draft Report. Any comments made by stakeholders shall be documented and forwarded by the certification body to its certification decision-making entity.
Please refer to the assessment downloads for further information.
Fishery location
The fishery occurs within the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in five management areas (SBW1, SBW6A, SBW6B, SBW6I and SBW6R). Southern blue whiting are almost entirely restricted in distribution to sub-Antarctic waters. They are dispersed throughout the Campbell Plateau and Bounty Platform for much of the year, but during August and September they aggregate to spawn near the Campbell Islands, on Pukaki Rise, on Bounty Platform, and near Auckland Islands over depths of 250–600 metres.
Fishing method
Pelagic trawl
Fishery management
The New Zealand southern blue whiting fisheries are managed by the Ministry of Fisheries through a quota management system (QMS) based on individual transferable quotas (ITQs). Within the QMS, fisheries sustainability objectives are achieved by setting a total allowable catch (TAC) that is consistent with the productivity of a fishery. TACs can be reviewed on an annual basis and a total allowable commercial catch (TACC) is then determined taking into account any recreational and customary harvesting. The TACC for each fishery is then apportioned to quota holders as an annual catch entitlement according to the percentage of quota they hold for a fishery.
There is a partnership approach to fisheries management between the Deepwater Group and the Ministry of Fisheries. This is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding that sets out the agreement between the Ministry of Fisheries and the Deepwater Group to work in partnership, outlining the prime areas and workplan to better manage deepwater fisheries. The Deepwater Group was formed in September 2005, and is an amalgamation of EEZ fisheries quota owners in New Zealand.
The client’s share of TACC for the 2008/2009 fishing year is 36,800 tonnes, representing 88% of the total TACC for SBW1, SBW6A, SBW6B, SBW6I and SBW6R.
Commercial market
Similar to other NZ deepwater finfish species, southern blue whiting is taken commercially and the majority is exported (>90%). The main export markets are Europe, Japan, Russia and Spain.
Assessment timeline
The assessment process is scheduled for completion in or around November 2011. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.
The target eligibility date for this fishery is the 30th of January 2011.
The MSC ecolabel can only be applied to product from certified fisheries. The MSC program does allow, in certain circumstances and within strict traceability requirements, the MSC ecolabel to be applied following certification to product caught before the actual date of certification. The target eligibility date therefore represents the date from which products may become eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel, however they cannot be sold until and if the fishery is certified. The actual eligibility date will be determined if the fishery is certified to the MSC standard.
To find out more about when fish from this fishery may be sold with the MSC ecolabel, please follow this link (http://www.msc.org/get-certified/supply-chain/eligibility-dates).
