iew Zealand High Seas Group Incorporated ———— 24 August 2018 Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade PO Box 2526 Wellington 6140 ‘Attention: ‘The Honourable Winston Peters. ‘And To: ‘Minister for Primary Industries PO Box 2526 Wellington 6140 Attention: ‘The Honourable Stuart Nash. Dear Ministers RE: SPRFMO BOTTOM FISHING MEASURES : AUGUST 2018, Introduction 1. The New Zealand High Seas Group (HSG) represents a group of New Zealand fishing companies that operate vessels on the High Seas, outside of NZ's EEZ. The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), is @ Regional Fisheries Management Organisation tasked ‘with managing the high seas in the South Pacific. 2, The HSG wrote to you on 15 December 2017 outlining some of their objections to the proposed conservation management measure (CMM) to manage bottom trawling in SPRFMO. We attach 2 copy of our letter marked annex A. 3. You responded by letter in late December 2017 in which you mention that you would direct Your officials to work closely with the HSG in 2018 to ensure “all expertise is fully considered and the measure has the greatest chance of success in 2019" (attached marked Annex 8). Unfortunately, whilst we have had a number of interactions with MFAT, MP,DOC and other stakeholders we have been unable to reach consensus on the content of the proposed CMM to be advanced at SPRFMO in January 2029. We write to you again setting out our high level in principle objections 4, delegation of HSG members met with Minister Peters on Monday 28 May 2018 and outlined some of the areas of concern, Additionally we presented you with an infographic of SPRFMO ‘that showed the restricted areas that are open to fishing. PO Box 3830 Richmond, Nelson 7050, New Zealand 1Trade off with Australia 5. a 10, ‘The introduction of the proposed allocation of tonnages between Australia and New Zealand, Inthe SPRFMO area inthe proposed Draft CMM, occurred in late 2017 and formed part of our objections to the proposed 2018 CMM. The HSG and the Deep Water Group (DWG) was not consulted on the introduction of allocations between countries prior to MFAT/MPI presenting, the draft CMM to the HSG and DWG in late November 2017, Included in the SPRFMO convention area is an area that is commonly known as the Westpac Bank. This area sits outside 200 nautical miles and is part of a “straddling fish stock” with the bulk of the stock being within NZ's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and forming part of the ‘orange roughy {ORH7A) fishery. In addition to this area, particular focus s on ORH stocks inthe ‘Tasman Sea, the Louisville Ridge {to the north east of NZ) and the South Tasman Rise (to the southwest of NZ - currently closed to fishing). New Zealand and Australien Government Officials have been trying to reach consensus on how Westpac bank should be managed through ‘the CMM. The draft 2018 CMM purported to allocate 400t on Westpac bank between Australia and New Zealand. 4s far as we can ascertain, Australia has questioned N2’s sole right of access to Westpac Bank {outside the £&2). By way of background, this area has been fished only by NZ over the past 20, years and has been managed by NZ as part of their in zone MSC Certified ORHTA fishery. This stock is fully allocated under the QMS to quota holders and iwi. This included a voluntary closure of the fishery for a period of 10 years to allow stock recovery. In order to achieve consensus on the terms of the CMM with Australia MFAT/MPI officials are proposing to “give away” or “allocate” an increased right of access to fishing within the Tasman ‘Sea (80 tons) and on the Louisvile Ridge (25% of 1140 tonnes~285 tonnes). Thisis an anathema to the HSG members. Australia has had no historical involvement in Westpac Bank and have no basis to assert some form of right of access to Westpac Bank and as such we do not accept the current negotiating. stance adopted by NZ officials. There is no basis upon which NZ should give away rights of access to Tasman Sea and Louisville Ridge (beyond what Is dictated by the 2002-2006 qualifying ‘years which would amount to 40t only on the Tasman Sea to Australia. ‘Additionally MFAT/MPI seem reluctant to follow the SPRFMO and other international protocols to formally declare the Westpac Bank stock to be a straddling stock to be managed and fished by New Zealand. Encounter Protocols, u 2 [MFAT/MPI & DOC are insistent that notwithstanding work over the past five years to agree to spatial management (through a complex Zonation Model) ofthe SPRFMO fishing footprint that they wish to include a “move on” rule based on proposed thresholds, Including a third tler of regulation being a new biodiversity score. We totaly reject this as unnecessary as best practise and science supports our postion. In discussions with MFAT/MPI, they have conceded that an inclusion of a move on rule is Politically driven and is not anchored in reasonable science, The Zonation model, already3 Incorporates conservation and fishing value layers and allows fishing in areas that recognise and balance these values. ‘Again context is important as through the Zonation model, 99.71% of the high seas within the ‘SPRFMO area Is closed to bottom fishing, Its in respect of the remaining 0.29% that move on rules are sought. It is an anathema to the HSG members that an additional layer of control be implemented over and above an agreed spatial management approach. Conclusion 14. 15. 16. 7. 18, In summary, the negotiations between NZ and Australia appears to be characterised by & misplaced desire by officials to achieve consensus on a draft CMM by making significant concessions to Australia on the High Seas that are not required. Further, they are allowing policy (and not science) to dictate additional controls over access to the high seas fishery thet ‘will have the effect of shutting access to NZ vessels to the very small area ofthe High Seas we are now able to fish. This will cost Kiwi's jobs! twas unfortunate that officials submitted the draft 2018 CMM to the international community last year despite strong objections from the industry. This has cast the issue of allocstions and the move on ruleinto the intemational arena, and officials are now trying to resolve these issues in the spotlight of the international community and conservation groups. {In our previous correspondence (attached), we have reiterated how important this fishery isto HSG members and we request that you urgently intervene and direct officals to: ‘Not give ground to the Australians to achieve consensus on the terms of a Draft 2019 ‘CMM by trading access to SPRFMO fisheries atthe expense of NZ companies; and b. Remove reference to the move on rule in the encounter protocols. Take steps to declare Westpac bank to be a straddling stock. ‘As an alternative, the HSG could accept the current CMM as “status quo” whilst we continue to gather data fora stock assessment as requested by the Science Committee of SPRFMO. We welcome an opportunity to meet with you to further advance this discussion. ‘Andy Smith ‘Chair: NEW ZEALAND HIGH SEAS FISHERY GROUP PO Box 3830 Richmond, Nelson 7050, New Zealand 3