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Oceans Fishing activity Fish stocks under QMS
Status of commercial fish stocks
Current situation
- In 2010, of the 633 stocks in the QMS, there is currently sufficient information to assess stock status relative to management targets for 119 stocks, up from 117 stocks a year ago.
- Of the 119 stocks with known status relative to management targets, 69 per cent have been determined to be at or above target levels. The remaining 31 per cent of fish stocks of known status relative to management targets were considered to be below target levels (see status classes).
Stock status for fish stocks assessed relative to management targets, 2006–2010
Read a description of this graph
| Year | Percentage of stocks assessed to be below target level | Percentage of stocks assessed to be at or above target level | Number of stocks assessed each year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 15.2 | 84.8 | 99.0 |
| 2007 | 15.3 | 84.7 | 85.0 |
| 2008 | 28.7 | 71.3 | 101.0 |
| 2009 | 32.5 | 67.5 | 117.0 |
| 2010 | 31.1 | 68.9 | 119.0 |
Note: The ‘fishing year’ runs from 1 October to 30 September. A fishing year takes its name from the second of the two calendar years
because this is the year in which most of the fishing year lies.
Data source: Ministry of Fisheries.
- In 2010, 13 per cent of the 105 fish stocks that were assessed against the soft limit were considered to be depleted and 6 per cent of 146 stocks that were assessed against the hard limit were considered to be collapsed. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of fish stocks experienced overfishing (see status classes).
- Southern bluefin tuna, six stocks or sub-stocks of orange roughy, three stocks of black cardinalfish and one stock or sub-stock each of pāua, rock lobster, scallop, and snapper comprise the 14 stocks considered to be depleted.
Stock status for fish stocks assessed relative to soft and hard limits and overfishing, 2009–2010
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Read a description of these graphs
| Year | % Stocks assessed to be depleted | % Stocks assessed to be not depleted | Number of stocks assessed each year | % Stocks assessed to be collapsed | % Stocks assessed to be not collapsed | Number of stocks assessed each year | % Stocks experiencing overfishing | % Stocks not experiencing overfishing | Number of stocks assessed each year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 18.9 | 81.1 | 95.0 | 6.1 | 93.9 | 132 | 25 | 75 | 76 |
| 2010 | 13.1 | 86.9 | 105 | 6.2 | 93.8 | 146 | 23.6 | 76.4 | 89 |
Note: The ‘fishing year’ runs from 1 October to 30 September. A fishing year takes its name from the second of the two calendar years because this is the year in which most of the fishing year lies.
Data source: Ministry of Fisheries.
Long-term trend
- In New Zealand’s first state of the environment report in 1997, 10 per cent of the 74 fish stocks of known status were reported as below target level. In 2010, the percentage of stocks below target level was about 31 per cent of 119 stocks of known status.
- However, it is difficult to directly compare these figures as the QMS now has new stocks and sub-stocks and more species are being assessed using improved methodologies.
Recent trend
- Since 2006, the percentage of stocks below target level has doubled, from 15 per cent in 2006 to 31 per cent in 20101. Since 2009, the number of depleted stocks has decreased by about 6 per cent and collapsed stocks remained relatively unchanged. Stocks experiencing overfishing decreased slightly from 25 per cent to 24 per cent.
This information has come from the latest fish stocks report card.
What can you do?
- Poaching is theft. Stop people stealing our natural resources – call 0800 4 POACHER if you see someone taking over the daily limit or undersized fish, or anything you think is suspicious.
- Take unwanted fishing gear home with you and dispose of it in your rubbish bin. Over 700,000 seabirds are killed each year by abandoned fishing gear.
Notes:
(1) Stock assessments are not necessarily made up of the same set of stocks and sub-stocks each year.
Return to fish stocks under the QMS page
Last updated: November 2010
