Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Dr Jeremy Helson welcomes the final Fisheries Industry Transformation Plan announced by Minister Rachel Brooking today.
Dr Helson says the three key priorities in the plan have been strengthened with amendments and new actions, in response to substantial submissions from industry, environmental groups and the public. He says they are the right areas to focus on – strengthening environmental performance, improving profitability and productivity, and supporting people and communities involved in the sector.
“The Fisheries ITP intends to reduce the environmental impacts of fishing and increase the value created by our commercial wild-catch fishers. And, importantly, there are actions to ensure this hard-working workforce are supported in their work supplying healthy seafood,” Dr Helson says.
“The sector is ready to move forward with the plan, in partnership with government, Māori and others, to build on the work we have already been doing,” Dr Helson says.
“The commercial fishing sector has initiated, or implemented, huge change over the past 30 years, to lighten our environmental footprint, be more targeted and to innovate and adopt new technology.
“Much of this has been funded by industry, throughout sustained periods of economic pressure. We are pleased the plan retains a partnership approach for initiatives such as sourcing and developing technology that minimises adverse impact on the ocean floor, and commits to lifting regulatory barriers to sustainable fishing innovation.”
Dr Helson says the new action to develop a standardised carbon footprint measurement tool will be welcomed by those in the sector who already measure, reduce and publicly report their carbon footprint, as well as those who have long called for an available tool.
New actions to enable increased investment across the value chain, from fish to fork, are also welcome – with industry in support of changes to government settings such as accelerated depreciation.
“The ITP is both validation of the fishing industry’s commitment to sustainable fishing and in our ability – through partnership – to keep making improvements to our environmental performance.
“The ITP also validates decades of careful fisheries management that ensures we can keep meeting people’s need for healthy protein, by fishing a small but highly-productive proportion of New Zealand’s waters.”
- ENDS
Note to editor:
Dr Helson was a member of the Leadership Group whose joint insights guided the development of the Draft Fisheries Industry Transformation Plan
