Sissenwine and Mace: ITQ management in New Zealand 



159 



major factors that precipitated the change from fixed 

 to variable ITQs, since it could have cost the govern- 

 ment more than $100 million NZ to buy back sufficient 

 quota to reduce the TAG to the estimated long-term 

 sustainable level. After the change, it was agreed that 

 the quota would be reduced at the rate of 5000 tons 

 per year to the sustainable level, the latter being re- 

 calculated periodically as new data became available. 

 Recent assessments (Francis and Robertson 1991) in- 

 dicate a sustainable level of 7000-9000 tons and show 

 that the risks of stock collapse under the proposed 

 reduction schedule have increased due to the accumula- 

 tion of new data which has resulted in a decrease in 

 the point estimates of stock size and a decrease in 

 uncertainty of the estimates. The results clearly indi- 

 cate the need for a faster rate of reduction. However, 

 the fishing industry continues to oppose quota reduc- 

 tions, and at this point in time the government has 

 postponed the 5000-ton reduction schedule. The dis- 

 covery of new orange roughy aggregations in the 

 southern portion of the management area may alleviate 

 the problem in the short term, but the low productiv- 

 ity of orange roughy stocks means that any accum- 

 ulated biomass can be quickly fished down. Long-term 

 sustainable yields from orange roughy stocks are esti- 

 mated to be only about 1 .5-2.5% of the recruited virgin 

 biomass. 



The problem of not reducing quotas when reductions 

 are indicated by assessments is exacerbated by wide- 

 spread rumors of quota busting, in spite of New Zea- 

 land's efforts to tailor enforcement to ITQ manage- 

 ment. Some of these rumors have been confirmed by 

 government sources. 



New Zealand is now considering further evolution in 

 its fisheries management system towards a form of co- 

 management. Topics being debated include the need 

 to incorporate recreational fisheries into the manage- 

 ment system, the need to include all remaining ex- 

 ploited species-stocks, and the pros and cons of elim- 

 inating the current limits on aggregation of quota 

 (Pearse 1991). One objective is to transfer the costs of 

 management and responsibility for the resource to the 

 users of the resource, under the assumption that with 

 ownership comes motivation for conservation. Stay 

 tuned. 



Citations 



Annala, J.H. 



1989 Report from the Fishery Assessment Plenary, May 1989: 

 Stock Assessments and Yield Estimates. Fish. Res. Cent., 

 N.Z. Minist. Agric. Fish., Wellington, 158 p. 



1990 Report from the Fishery Assessment Plenary, April-May 

 1990: Stock Assessments and Yield Estimates. Fish. Res. 

 Cent., N.Z. Minist. Agric. Fish., Welhng^ton, 165 p. 



Annala, J.H., K.J. Sullivan, and A. Hore 



1991 Management of multispecies fisheries in New Zealand 

 by individual transferable quotas. In Daan, N., and M.P. 

 Sissenwine (eds.), Multispecies models for management of 

 living resources. ICES Mar. Sci. Symp. 193:321-330. 

 Anonymous 



1984 Inshore finfish fisheries: Proposed policy for future man- 

 agement. N.Z. Minist. Agric. Fish., WeUington, 31 p. 



1987 Economic review of New Zealand fishing industry, 1986- 

 1987. N.Z. Fish. Ind. Board. Wellington, 56 p. 



Bevin, G., P. Maloney, and P. Roberts 



1989 Economic review of the New Zealand fishing industry, 

 1987-1988. N.Z. Fish. Ind. Board, Wellington, 56 p. 

 Christy, F.T. 



1973 Fishermen quotas: A tentative suggestion for domestic 

 management. Occas. Pap. 19, Law of the Sea Inst., Univ. R.I.. 

 Narragansett. 

 Clark, I.N., and A.J. Duncan 



1986 New Zealand's fisheries management policies— Past, 

 present and future: The implementation of an ITQ based 

 management system. In Fishery assess control programs 

 worldwide, p. 107-141. Alaska Sea Grant Rep. 86-4, Univ. 

 Alaska, Fairbanks. 

 Clark, I.N., P.J. Major, and N. MoUet 



1988 Development and implementation of New Zealand's ITQ 

 management system. Mar. Resour. Econ. 5:325-349. 



Copes, P. 



1986 A critical review of the individual quotas as a device in 

 fisheries management. Land Econ. 62(3):278-291. 

 Crothers, S. 



1988 Individual transferable quotas: The New Zealand ex- 

 perience. Fisheries (Bethesda) 13(1):10-12. 



Dewees, CM. 



1989 Assessment of the implementation of individual trans- 

 ferable quotas in New Zealand's inshore fishery. N. Am. J. 

 Fish. Manage. 9:131-139. 



Francis, R.I.C.C, and D.A. Robertson 



1991 Assessment of the Chatham Rise (ORH 3B) orange 

 roughy fishery for the 1991/92 season. N.Z. Fish. Assess. Res. 

 Doc. 91/3, N.Z. Minist. Agric. Fish., Wellington, 36 p. 

 Geen, G., and M. Nayar 



1988 Individual transferable quotas in the southern bluefin 

 tuna fishery: An economic appraisal. Mar. Resour. Econ. 5: 

 365-388. 

 Gilbert, D.J. 



1988 Use of a simple age structured bioeconomic model to 

 estimate optimal long run surpluses. Mar. Resour. Econ. 

 5:23-42. 



Mace, P.M.. and M.P. Sissenwine 



1989 Biological reference points for New Zealand fisheries 

 assessments. N.Z. Fish. Assess. Res. Doc. 89/11, N.Z. Minist. 

 Agric. Fish., Wellington, 10 p. 



Mace, P.M.. J.M. Fenaughty, R.P. Coburn, and LJ. Doonan 



1990 Growth and productivity of orange roughy (Hoplostethus 

 atlanticus) on the north Chatham Rise. N.Z. J. Mar. 

 Freshwater Res. 24:105-119. 



Maloney. D.G.. and P.H. Pearce 



1979 Quantitative rights as an instrument for regulating com- 

 mercial fisheries. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 36:859-866. 

 Muse. B., and K. Schelle 



1988 New Zealand's ITQ Program. Alaska Commer. Fish. 

 Entry Comm. (CFEC 88-3), Juneau, 47 p. 



1989 Individual fisherman's quotas: A preliminary review of 

 some recent programs. Alaska Commer. Fish. Entry Comm. 

 (CFEC 89-1), Juneau. 



