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Submit on the Fisheries Amendment Bill

New Zealand Parliament is currently considering amendments to the Fisheries Act 1996. The Fisheries Amendment Bill (What is it? Read our two-page summary here!) is about making sure our fisheries management system continues to evolve alongside better data, modern technology, and practical, evidence-based decision-making. These are essential improvements to our decades-old regulatory system and we need to show our support for them to Government.

The Federation has made a submission to the Primary Production Committee. Once submissions close, there will be (at this stage) two days of oral submissions on 7 and 14 May, where a selection of people who indicated they want to speak to the MPs on the Committee will be invited to speak in person. We have requested to speak to the Committee.

If we had one ask for the year, it is that you join us in submitting on this Bill and ask to speak to the Committee as well.  

Submissions to the Primary Production Committee are due by Wed 29 April.

Take 5 minutes to pop in your information, share your story and the facts, and explicitly tell our government that you WANT this Bill.

To make the process as easy as possible, we have created a ‘how-to submit’ guide, available as a printable PDF on our website that you can reference when making your submission.

Make your submission to the Select Committee here.

 

More resources you can use

  • Use our two-page fishing key facts guide for verified data points about why commercial fishing is essential, how sustainable it is, and its economic benefit to the regions.
  • If you want to dive into the technical detail about the main proposals in the Bill, Seafood New Zealand has produced high-level summaries about its key topics. Go to https://www.seafood.co.nz/fisheries-reform and scroll down to the section called ‘Get the Facts’.
  • What is the Bill? We have a handy summary about what it is and what it does, plus some Federation perspective on a few proposals that disproportionately impact inshore fishers.

  • The Federation first submitted on the proposed reforms back in April 2025, and you can read our submission here.