• Presentation

Developing tools for multi-species fisheries management

Webinar presentation by Eric Jorgensen, Judi Hewitt (University of Auckland), Justin Connolly (Deliberate), Andrew Allison (NIWA), Jodi Milne (MPI), Carol Scott (Southern Inshore Fisheries) and Karen Middlemiss (DOC), May 2023

A collaborative research project by Fisheries New Zealand (FNZ) and Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge has explored how mapping and modelling tools can support multi-species finfish management, with a case study focused on the Tasman and Golden Bay snapper fishery.

The Policy and legislation for EBM project aims to develop a research base for policy makers, Māori and stakeholders to navigate the legislative, policy and practice constraints surrounding ecosystem-based management (EBM) and any changes required to enable it.

The project’s recent (full) report on Exploring the use of a system diagram and multi-variate analysis to understand multi-species complexes in fisheries describes the process the project went through and explores how the various tools can support management of multi-species complexes. The process included input from local fishers, kaumātua, Fisheries New Zealand, the Department of Conservation, Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council. Collectively, the group provided knowledge and experience of customary, commercial and recreational fishing, marine environment and species conservation, local government policy and community values.

The project produced three summaries:

  1. Overview of process and key insights
  2. Co-developing an agent-based model to support EBM
  3. System dynamic mapping and managing multi-species complexes: Key variables and linkages