Kahawai FAP

Kahawai Final Advice Paper

Ministry of Fisheries

29 June 2004

72. MFish’s initial proposals were to average five years of commercial landings for the period 1997-98 to 2001-02 to define the commercial landings for the purpose of setting TACs.

73. Sanford considers that the use of an arbitrary time period for assessing current utilisation and setting TACs is inappropriate where a stock assessment is available, and where commercial catches have been constrained by catch restrictions.
74. Other submissions specify alternative options for calculating commercial landings for the purpose of setting TACs or in some cases for allocation:

1. excluding target purse seine landings and basing current utilisation on bycatch levels only (RFC and Mark Feldman);
2. use of “revised” MCYbase case after making non-commercial allowances (Non-Commercial Fishers);
3. use of MCYsensitivity analysis after making non-commercial allowances, allocated between quota management areas on the basis of the 1993-00 catch history (Sanford);
4. Use of the average of five years of commercial landings between 1997-02 (TNFCL); and
5. Use of the average of five years of commercial landings between 1992-97 (TOKM).

75. MFish confirms its initial view that using the most recent five years of commercial landings best reflects public policy considerations and other management measures already in place for the fishery. These considerations are reflected in current management arrangements and consequently the current use of the resource. Complete information is now available for the 2002-03 fishing year and MFish has incorporated this most recent year in determining average landings. This means that current commercial utilisation is defined by the average of the 1998-03 fishing years as compared to the use of the 1997-02 fishing years used in the IPP.
76. The information about the catch of each sector group also acts as a guide to the subsequent allocation of the TAC but current use need not determine allocations within a TAC. The Minister makes a separate decision about allocation after setting the TAC.
77. The choice of commercial fishing years, intended to reflect current use in the fishery is an important consideration for two reasons. Firstly, within current proposals it determines the level of current use, which combined with that of other sectors, is assessed against sustainability considerations when determining TACs for the fishery. Secondly, the choice of years may affect the allocation of TACs and TACCs between stocks.
78. For example the change to include the 2002-03 year within the five-year average has the effect of reducing the average commercial catch for KAH 1 by 125 tonnes despite increasing the average for all kahawai stocks combined by 55 tonnes.
79. A more significant trend in the use of more recent commercial landings is the decline in landings in KAH 3 from the period 1993-94 to 1996-97 when compared to the period 1997-98 to 2002-03 (1998-99 is an exception). This change occurred because of a decline in the level of purse seining in the area of the stock. The use of a more recent period of commercial catch (as opposed to the 1991-97 period proposed by TOKM) results in lower TACs and TACCs for this kahawai stock. You should note the implications of the choice of recent years for determining commercial utilisation of kahawai.