Fishserve is a seafood industry owned company that has a discrete and prescribed role within the sector. Since 1999, Fishserve has provided the systems and tools that support and enhance the operation of the Quota Management System (QMS) underpinning the sustainability of Aotearoa New Zealand’s fisheries.

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Fishserve was established in 1999 when several functions previously provided by the (then) Ministry of Fisheries were outsourced. Fishserve operated under a Service Delivery Agreement (SDA). In 2001, the Fisheries Act 1996 came into force which provided for an Approved Service Delivery Organisation (ASDO) to be appointed. Under the Act, an organisation appointed as an ASDO is directly accountable to the Minister for all functions and duties transferred to it. Due to this, all the statutory functions provided by Fishserve are delivered either as the ASDO or under contract with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

The same year Fishserve started delivering ASDO services it launched a computerised Fisheries Management System (FMS) to facilitate the administration of the quota system. The FMS was designed inhouse, replacing technology that had been in use since 1986. Designing and building software to support our service delivery is a key part of what we do. This has also enabled us to look beyond administrative support and move into the development of smart information services that can provide value back into Aotearoa New Zealand’s fisheries.

Over the years, Fishserve worked hard to minimise the cost of statutory services through efficiency gains and process improvements. The constant improvements in service delivery and investment in technology meant that by 2008, Fishserve had reduced its annual cost to industry from $8.65M to $4M. Since then, we have continued to add value without a significant increase to costs on the industry.

For a more detailed history click here

Fishserve’s current strategy is focused on the specialist role Fishserve plays, acting as a channel to provide useful information and data to support sustainable fisheries. This channel depends on us working together towards a sustainable future.


Vision

Supporting fishers to feed the world for generations to come.

Our vision reflects:

  • Our passion for those working to provide the best seafood in the world.
  • Our respect for the importance of the Quota Management System (QMS) and sustainable fishing practices in maintaining healthy fisheries for the future.


Purpose

Enabling successful and sustainable fisheries through smart information services.

This means:

  • Using trusted, cost-effective systems to enable the reporting and processing that underpin the QMS and public registries.
  • Making better use of data to support informed decision-making.
  • Creating more value from the same investment.


Strategic Drivers

  • We deliver value into Aotearoa New Zealand's fisheries (through both government and industry).
  • Our work has a positive impact on the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of Aotearoa New Zealand's fisheries.
  • People want to work for us.
  • We are a purpose-driven company.


Strategies

In the delivery of smart information services, we are:

  • Helpful - We are focused on meeting customer needs through the excellent operationalisation of information services - that means through our software solutions and our service support.
  • Trusted - We are the trusted provider of information services - we get it right when it comes to regulatory reporting, and we provide trustworthy information to support better decisions.
  • Cost-effective - As an industry-owned company using cost-recovery funds, we focus on creating greatest value at least cost.
  • Innovative - We are enablers of change, we seek ways to make it easier to improve the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of fishing through connected information services that underpin regulatory processes, fisheries management processes, and business decisions.
  • Collaborative - We are actively engaged with industry and others who are seeking to improve fisheries management through the innovative use of data and science.


Performance Indicators

In assessing our success in delivering our strategic goals we will review our performance based on how much:

  • Our people are helpful and solutions focused.
  • Our products and services are valued, reliable, user-friendly, and modern.
  • Our business approach is simple, clear, and purpose driven.
  • Our information services and partnerships improve fisheries management.

Our Strategic Moves

To achieve our strategic outcomes, we will:

  • Have a leadership, culture, and structure that attracts and retains talent.
  • Have a modern platform that supports the delivery of smart information services.
  • Have our brand excellence recognised by those we serve and those we partner with.

Te Reo Māori translation available here.

Fishserve shares critical relationships with a number of stakeholders across Aotearoa New Zealand fisheries, including:

  • The Minister for Oceans and Fisheries (as the Approved Service Delivery Organisation under part 15A of the Fisheries Act).
  • Fisheries New Zealand (and other government agencies whose work intersects with fisheries management).
  • Sector Representative Entities (SREs).
  • Commercial fishing businesses.
  • Other industry organisations.

Fishserve sits between the government and commercial fishers in relation to administering the QMS. Maintaining our independence and impartiality is really important to our success as the ASDO, and that means understanding needs and pressures across all parties. This also holds true in terms of looking at opportunities to create value within Aotearoa New Zealand’s fisheries, both for those managing it and those businesses contributing to a sustainable commercial fishery that supports Aotearoa’s bottom line.


Fishserve’s Annual Report outlines our priorities and achievements for the year. Updates from both the Chairperson and Chief Executive are included.

These reports also include financial and performance information intended to show how we are doing.


Tom McClurg

Tom McClurg / Chairperson

Tom has over thirty years of experience within various primary sector natural resource management and policy roles in New Zealand.

Throughout his career he has held senior executive positions with Government, Te Ohu Kai Moana, Aotearoa Fisheries Limited, the corporate finance practice of Ernst & Young, and Landcorp Farming Limited.

Since 2009, he has provided consultancy and directorship services through his company, Toroa Strategy Limited, including international fisheries advice.

His recent career is defined by a growing connection to iwi businesses and the role of lead negotiator for Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri in their Treaty Settlement negotiations.


Stan Crothers

G T (Stan) Crothers ONZM

Stan has extensive experience in all aspects of fisheries management, having worked in the fisheries sector since 1973. He was involved in establishing the Exclusive Economic Zone, designing and implementing the Quota Management System, negotiating the Fisheries Deed of Settlement, and led work to establish the Ministry of Fisheries in 1995.

Stan was Deputy Chief Executive of the Ministry of Fisheries between 1995 and 2010.

Since 2010, Stan has worked as an international fisheries consultant for the World Bank and for over 25 different countries and has served on governance boards of international fisheries organisations and of businesses working in the primary production sector.

In 2019 Stan was awarded an ONZM for his services to Tokelau and the New Zealand fisheries sector.


Dame Kerry Prendergast

Dame Kerry Prendergast DNZM, CNZM

Dame Kerry Prendergast DNZM, CNZM is a former Mayor of Wellington and former Vice-President of Local Government New Zealand. She holds an MBA from Victoria University of Wellington, where she is a Distinguished Alumni.

Kerry is currently Chair of the New Zealand Film Commission, Wellington Free Ambulance, Wellington Opera, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and the Victoria Foundation.

She is a Director of Oceania Healthcare and Fishserve, and a Trustee of the Wellington International Arts Foundation and the New Zealand Community Trust. Kerry has filled many other roles over the last ten years.

In January 2019, Kerry became a Dame Companion (DNZM) for services to governance and the community after being awarded a CNZM in 2011 for her services to local government. In July 2016, Kerry was also awarded a Lifetime Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Local Government.


Dr. Jeremy Helson

Dr. Jeremy Helson

Jeremy is CEO and Executive Chairman of Seafood NZ. He moved from government to industry in 2014 to head Fisheries Inshore New Zealand where he represented the interests of the inshore finfish sector.

Prior to working for the seafood industry, Dr. Helson spent 10 years in fisheries management at the Ministry for Primary Industries. 

Earlier in his career, he studied marine biology, was a post-doctoral fellow at Tokyo University of Fisheries, spent time as a consultant marine biologist, and as a lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. 

Jeremy also holds a Bachelor of Laws and is an enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court.

Caroline Read / Chief Executive

Caroline brings a unique mix of software start-up, public policy and research experience to Fishserve, with a focus on purpose-driven leadership, building value for customers, and sustainable, long-term outcomes.

Caroline moved a start-up to revenue generation in 3 years in her role as Chief Executive of Overseer Ltd., transforming an existing free-ware tool into a value-add software service for farmers.

Prior to that, Caroline spent a decade developing and implementing environmental policy in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand. She has science training, completing a PhD in geology in 2002.


Lynda Amitrano / General Manager Operations

Lynda brings a wealth of experience to Fishserve, having previously spent 20 years in the building and construction sector.

In her former roles, she diligently led teams to deliver projects to meet the dynamic, changing needs of the industry - in both research and commercial capacities. Such projects included the implementation and delivery of product evaluation services that supported manufacturers in showing compliance of their products. She developed extensive experience in creating and maintaining successful relationships between clients, industry stakeholders and the regulator.


Mark Jones / General Manager Innovations (FINNZ)

Mark is the General Manager of Fishserve’s subsidiary business development company, Fishserve Innovations New Zealand Limited (FINNZ). Prior to this role, Mark had 8 years managerial experience within government agencies in both project and service delivery areas.

FINNZ was established for the purpose of undertaking consultancy and software development services for clients outside of the NZ seafood sector, to return revenue to Fishserve as a means to offset the cost of Fishserve’s core statutory services to the industry.


Riahanne Nemaia / General Manager Finance and Shared Services

Riahanne is Fishserve’s General Manager of Finance and Shared Services. She is a Chartered Accountant and a member of CAANZ, with a Bachelor of Commerce & Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting.

She joined Fishserve in 2015 as the Group Lead Accountant, bringing with her 6 years of experience from her roles at an accounting firm. Following this, she became the Finance Business Partner, and in April 2022, the General Manager of Finance and Shared Services.

Riahanne has managed finances across all Fishserve operations, addressing financial impacts with a sound understanding of the value of services provided. She leads a team of accountants who provide accounting and administrative services to industry bodies who value working alongside people who understand their organisation and industry.

At Fishserve, we recognise that the greatest asset of a business is its people.

We are an agile product development company where everyone can contribute to what we do and how we do it.

Fishserve supports flexible working and looks for all-rounders that contribute to the strategy and are happy to work across different areas.

We have a broad range of technical expertise across the business and focus on developing our people as technology and opportunities evolve.

We advertise open vacancies on Seek and encourage applicants to apply there.

When the Fisheries Act 1996 came into force in October 2001, it allowed for an organisation to be designated the Approved Service Delivery Organisation (ASDO). This would allow the Ministry to devolve administrative services.

Our appointment as the Approved Service Delivery Organisation is subject to a rigorous process. Fishserve maintains its status as the Approved Service Delivery Organisation (ASDO) by adhering to the following requirements:

  • Demonstrated support of the majority of quota owners

    This is important because the appointment of the ASDO requires the majority support of quota owners. Fishserve has maintained this support since 2001, with SREs and CSOs providing letters of support for our renewal applications.

  • Financial viability including the willingness to re-invest

    At the time of its first outsourcing, Fishserve cost the industry $8.65 million. By 2016, Fishserve cost the industry $4 million thanks to years of constant improvements in service delivery and investment in technology.

  • Independence

    To ensure Fishserve is removed from inappropriate influence, and can maximise its service efficiency, our corporate constitution determines that we must have an independent chair. None of our directors may be industry sector representatives, and only one director may be a director of our parent company, Seafood New Zealand.

  • Policy Neutrality

    Our governance has unburdened Fishserve from the potential influence of individual commercial participants and from industry politics at large.

A specific performance framework underpins the delivery of all our services. The Crown has set standards and specifications within this framework, which determine information, process, and performance minimums. Fishserve is required to operate in accordance with those specifications at all times.

Fishserve is required to report any discrepancies with the standards and specifications on a monthly basis to MPI. The Crown has in place a regulatory penalty regime which it can impose for any breach of those standards and specifications. Since our establishment, Fishserve has never been penalised for a breach of those standards and specifications: “It is our practise and the expectation of industry that we provide services well in excess of these minimum standards.”


Contracted Services

These are services that Fishserve is contracted by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to deliver. The Crown maintains responsibility for these services but does not need to deliver them. (i.e. Crown responsibility).

  • Electronic Reporting (Validation, Secondary Validation, and Error Reporting)
  • Quota Allocations
  • Fishing Permits (includes High Seas Permits)
  • Crown Revenue Management

    Includes Cost Recovery Levies, Deemed Value Invoicing, and Debt Management.


Devolved Services

These are services that Fishserve are responsible for delivering on behalf of the industry. Fishserve, as the ASDO, is accountable to the Minister for these services (i.e. ASDO responsibility).

  • Public Registers Management (Quota, ACE, Vessels, Permits, HSFP, and Aquaculture)
  • Quota/ACE Transfers
  • Annual ACE Allocations
  • Vessel Registrations
  • LFR Registrations
  • Client Registration & Management

As an industry owned company, Fishserve provides shared service support to small entities within the Seafood New Zealand umbrella to ensure that resource efficiencies can be achieved across their financial and administration requirements.

  • Financial Management (Levy Collections, Invoicing, Debt Recovery, Financial Reporting and Management)
  • Corporate Services (Call Centre Services, Facilities Management, IT Support, and Event Support)
  • ACE Shelving
  • Customised Fisheries Data Collection (Stock Research)
  • Sub-stock Management (Info Hub and Sub-stock Splits)

We build services to support the implementation of individual fisheries management rules and to provide information to industry that supports more sustainable management of fisheries. For instance, we developed the SRE tab to allow SREs to manage the fishstocks they represent at a sub area level, all within the Fisheries Management System (FMS).

This is an area of growth for Fishserve, one where we are working collaboratively with others to provide useful information back into fisheries to support social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Underpinning the provision of these services is our customer support team. This group of specialist support personnel deliver:

  • Direct one-on-one support for reporting requirements.
  • Proactive reminders and follow-up to meet statutory requirements.
  • Information requests.

Fishserve services are provided through a web-based application software that has inbuilt validation and permissions to ensure it complies with the fishing regulations.

We have developed the software based on microservice architectures to enable rapid updates if required as regulations change without impacting the whole system. Our solutions include responsive SPA web front ends using both HTML/JavaScript via Angular and the latest Microsoft Blazor .NET technology.

Fishserve also provides data entry services through its CEDRIC software and provides a publicly available reporting service through the website.


Page last updated: 28th February 2023