Glossary of Terms

ACE

Annual Catch Entitlement

On the first day of the fishing year, each quota share generates an annual right to catch a specified amount (in kilograms) of the relevant fishstock. The catching right is the Annual Catch Entitlement (ACE).

ASDO

Approved Service Delivery Organisation

An Approved Service Delivery Organisation (ASDO) is an entity to whom any specified devolved functions, duties, or powers have been transferred under the Fisheries Act 1996.

Fishserve acts as an ASDO for services such as quota transfers, the allocation and transfer of ACE, the management of client records, and the registering of vessels and their GPRs.

CPUE

Catch Per Unit Effort

A calculation used to determine the state of stocks. A declining CPUE would indicate more effort to catch a volume of fish, thereby indicating a decline in a particular species.

“More effort” in this instance could be defined as more hooks per line, longer soak times and increased pot lifts, and a longer duration of searching.

DV

Deemed Values

When the amount of catch reported exceeds the amount of ACE held, a Deemed Value (DV) invoice is issued. A suspension is placed on the offending fishing permit if the deemed value owed is $1000 or more, and the invoice isn’t settled in time. There are two types of deemed values:

Interim deemed values are issued if the reported catch for the month exceeds the ACE balance at the 15th day of the following month.

Annual deemed values are issued when the reported catch for the fishing year exceeds the ACE balance on the 15th day of the month following the end of the fishing year.

EEZ

Exclusive Economic Zone

The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is an area between 12 to 200 nautical miles from New Zealand’s coast, including the coast of its islands. The EEZ is the territorial sea over which New Zealand has sovereign rights.

ER

Electronic Reporting

Electronic Reporting (ER) is the reporting of fishing effort events through a digital device, sometimes referred to as an “e-logbook”. All commercial fishers are required to report electronically. Fishserve provides a data aggregation service for electronic reporting as part of the Ministry for Primary Industry (MPI) digital monitoring programme.

Fishing events are submitted in the form of reports, which include trip starts, catch efforts, processing reports, disposals, landings, and trip ends.

FFV

Foreign Fishing Vessel

A foreign vessel, issued with a licence, permitted to take a portion of the TACC within New Zealand’s EEZ.

FIN QRN

Fisher Identification Number

Quota Registration Number

This is a unique identifier for any entity who fishes commercially in New Zealand waters, also referred to as a “client number”. You must be a client of Fishserve with a valid client number to apply for a fishing permit.

The permit holder must always have their Fishing Permit with them while fishing. A valid fishing permit is required to fish commercially in New Zealand waters.

FMA

Fishery Management Area

The EEZ of New Zealand is divided into 10 Fishery Management Areas (FMAs). Standard FMAs form the basis of the QMAs (Quota Management Areas) for most fish stocks within the QMS.

FOTFAV

Fishing Otherwise Than From A Vessel

An agreement of a fishing permit holder authorising those named to take fish or seaweed “otherwise than from a vessel”.

GPR VMS

Geospatial Position

Reporting

Vessel Monitoring System

All vessels must have a Geospatial Position Reporting (GPR) device registered and polling to MPI while fishing. They are sometimes referred to as a VMS (Vessel Monitoring System).

A mobile GPR is a device which can be moved from one vessel to another, provided that both vessels are not fishing at the same time. They can also be used when fishing without a vessel (i.e. land-based fishing).

HSP

High Seas Permit

A permit which allows New Zealand vessels to fish on the “high seas”, areas of ocean not covered by or outside of New Zealand’s EEZ.

ITQ

Individual Transferable

Quota

Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) is a property right which represents a quota owner’s share of a fishery. It’s permissible to buy or sell these shares. They are sometimes referred to as “harvest rights”. There are 100 million quota shares for each fishstock, no matter what tonnage the TACC is actually set at. Quota shares do not allow you to take fish.

LFR

Licensed Fish Receiver

A Licensed Fish Receiver (LFR) is an entity permitted to receive fish for the purpose of sale from commercial fishermen. Commercial fishers must land their catch to an LFR.

All LFRs must provide an annual audit report detailing all fish-related operations for each fishing year. All LFRs must also provide an annual inventory return for each fishing year, detailing an annual physical stock take. The annual inventory return must accompany the annual audit report.

LFRR

Licensed Fish Receiver Return

All LFRs are required to complete a Licensed Fish Receiver Return (LFRR). This is a record of all fish received by an LFR in a calendar month.

MHR

Monthly Harvest Return

All permit holders are required to complete a Monthly Harvest Return (MHR) for each month they hold a permit. This record details all catch for the month and what vessels were used, if any. A “nil return” must be submitted if there is no catch to report for the month.

MHRs must be submitted on or before the 15th day of the following month.

MPA

Marine Protected Area

A protected, designated marine area for the recovery and/or maintenance of biodiversity.

NABIS

National Aquatic Biodiversity Information System

A geospatial data management tool used by MPI. It enables visualisation of marine biological and fisheries management data.

NFPS

Non-Fish Protected Species

Seabirds, marine mammals, reptiles, or protected fish species. A report must be submitted if any of the above were caught during a fishing event.

The report must specify the number of animals caught and they must be assigned a life status – uninjured, injured or dead.

PCH

Provisional Catch History

Provisional Catch History (PCH) was used prior to a stock’s introduction into the QMS to determine an individual’s allocation of ITQs.

PCH looked at an eligible period of an individual’s catch history to determine their share of quota. PCH is no longer used to allocate quota.

QMA

Quota Management Area

Fishstocks within the QMS are managed within Quota Management Areas (QMAs) in the EEZ of New Zealand.

The standard Fishery Management Areas (FMAs) form the basis of these QMAs.

QMS

Quota Management System

The Quota Management System (QMS) has been in place since 1986. Under the QMS a yearly catch limit – the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) – is set for every fishstock.

By controlling the amount of fish taken from each stock, the QMS helps keep New Zealand fisheries sustainable.

QWE

Quota Weight Equivalent

Each quota share has a kilogram value determined by the Quota Weight Equivalent (QWE).

The QWE is determined by dividing the TACC for a stock by 100,000,000.

TAC

Total Allowable Catch

The total quantity that can sustainably be taken each year by all sectors. These include commercial, recreational and customary allowances.

TACC

Total Allowable Commercial Catch

The total amount of fish the commercial sector is permitted to catch each year by stock.

TACC variations are a change in the stock at the start of the fishing year. Any proposed change to the TACC is put before the Minister of Fisheries by MPI. This is then put before the Governor-General as an Order in Council. The Governor-General then confers the change unto law.

An increase in TACC will result in an increase in the QWE for a stock. The amount of ACE generated is thereby increased. A decrease in TACC will result in a decrease in the QWE for a stock. The amount of ACE generated is thereby decreased.