Cameras on fishing boats rollout resumes – with a catch

As some warn of an end to New Zealand’s commercial fishing industry, Roger Rawlinson is expanding his fishing fleet. His big whānau-owned fishing company, RMD Marine, has just bought its seventh vessel, in anticipation of increases to the snapper catch allowance – and it has cameras on all of them.
He’d be willing to see cameras on all commercial fishing vessels. “For the older guys, it’s ‘Shit, big brother’s watching us’. But conversely, you’ve got young people who are happy to change. It doesn’t faze them. As a business owner, it’s a social licence thing – we want to be a transparent and socially responsible industry.”
But Rawlinson says that in return, there should no longer be a requirement for ministry fishing observers on boats. “What I told the minister, my beef was, look, let’s save the money on observers. That’s why we’ve got cameras. And as the cameras get better with AI, they will be able to do way more than any observer could ever do.”
Rawlinson is right in saying that cameras help with the industry’s social licence. Foodstuffs communications head Stefan Herrick says the supermarkets have always been supportive of the rollout.
“Cameras help provide transparency, which is important at every stage of our supply chain,” he argues. “Leigh Fish, which is part of the Foodstuffs North Island family, began trialling cameras several years ago, well before it was regulated. ”
Speaking to Newsroom, Fisheries Minister Shane Jones confirms he will continue the rollout of cameras to the last of 255 medium-sized inshore fishing boats, but after that, the Government plans to pause. The previous government had signalled deep-sea trawlers and scampi vessels might be next – but Jones has no such plans.
He agrees with Rawlinson that the Government must compromise by offering the industry something in return.
“I’ve recently asked the officials to come back to my office and provide options as to how we free the industry from any obligations to have observers, and to just stick with cameras. I mean, you can’t impose cameras and not offer some relief to the industry. That’s that. That’s not how the state should be working with an industry which we require to generate a dividend.
“If I have my way, we’ll have fewer observers. I think we will have fewer, because the cameras will make observers redundant.”
In addition, fishing companies will get an extra three months lead-in time, a promise to rein in cost recovery fees, and where there are cameras or observers onboard, they’ll have permission to discard unwanted bycatch at sea.
The Government won’t concede to pleas from some in the industry, like Westfleet chief executive (and NZ First donor) Craig Boote, to get rid of “intrusive” cameras on boats. This year, Boote told Newsroom: “It’s going to be very, very difficult for us to recruit young men when they’re gonna get perved on 24/7.”
But Jones has won Cabinet agreement that once the cameras are installed on these inshore vessels, they won’t be rolled out to others like the big deep-sea trawlers and scampi boats.
The minister’s proposals are a compromise, with both good news and bad news for the fishing industry, and for environmental groups.
Barry Weeber, the co-chair of Environment and Conservation Organisations of New Zealand, welcomed the resumption of the rollout of cameras on inshore vessels, but says that must not come at the cost of onboard observers.
According to a Cabinet paper this year, there are observers on 5 to 10 percent of inshore fishing excursions, and 35 to 40 percent of deepsea trawls and scampi trips.
Weeber says that’s not enough: “The current observer coverage is inadequate in a whole bunch of fisheries, for getting stock assessments and doing the science. If he’s talking about reducing that coverage, that’s going to make things worse, and we’re going to be more uncertain about things like bycatch, and the stocks that are supposed to be managed.”
According to a Fisheries NZ update in April this year, vessels with cameras are documenting 3.5 times more albatross interactions (which mostly means deaths), and nearly seven times more dolphin captures.
Those vessels are reporting 34 percent bigger catches, and also, reporting that they’re discarding twice as many fish species that they weren’t meant to catch. To Weeber, figures like that are proof the cameras keep fishers honest – but he says they need to be used alongside observers.
He says observers can identify the species of bycatch more accurately than cameras, and can audit the age of fish caught to give a clearer picture of the state of a fishery.
Jones says the proposals are practical ones that will reduce red tape, provide a boost to commercial fishers, and ensure a thriving and sustainable seafood industry.
“These proposed changes will help a vital sector that supports 9000 jobs nationally and attracts $1.6 billion in export revenue by simplifying rules and making our fisheries system more efficient.”
The rollout of cameras on commercial fishing vessels will continue but the timeframes will be extended by three months to allow time to complete the installations.
“Officials have taken a close look at the operating costs associated with cameras and have identified scope for significant reductions. I plan to limit the cost recovery levies on industry for onboard cameras to a level comparable with the cost of observers on vessels.”
And Jones says the important matter of privacy for fishers who work with cameras on their vessels will also be considered in the upcoming proposals.
Another proposed change includes amending discard rules so fishers with monitoring on their vessels have more options for dealing with their catch. At present, fishers are required to land all their catch on shore unless an exception is in place.
Once introduced, the rules will allow fishers to legally return fish to the sea as long as they have cameras or observers on board to verify catch, and the discards are counted against their annual catch entitlement.
“It will make the most of the onboard cameras and simplify the rules for fishers, reflecting challenges at sea. It recognises that as long as fishers are operating inside their catch entitlement, the Government shouldn’t be making decisions for fishers about what they should do with their catch.”
Ahead of Monday’s announcement on new catch limits for “sustainable” quota fisheries like snapper and orange roughy, he says unnecessary red tape will also be removed from the decision-making process for setting catch limits.
“I will look to speed up decision-making to make the most of our fisheries resources to generate income that supports jobs in our communities,” he says.
The changes are being developed into specific proposals, and feedback will be sought from early next year.
Update: Seafood NZ, the fisheries industry lobby group, says it’s consistently supported and welcomed greater transparency, and cameras are part of that. 
Chief executive Lisa Futschek says the existing camera programme, which fishers helped to pay for through a significant increase in levies, is already providing new data that will further strengthen the sustainable management of our fisheries.
So the industry supports continuing the planned rollout. “As the technology gets cheaper then perhaps rolling out more cameras could be an option down the track, when we are able to introduce smart tech and enable AI in a way that helps our fishers to be even more sustainable and efficient,” she says.
“Pausing things for now can give us the best of both worlds – substantial camera coverage across the industry with the option to do more in future in a really smart way.”
Lisa Futschek says for some vessels, smaller ones particularly, cameras are the best option as space is so limited.  For other vessels, particularly in the deepwater, observers are the better because as well as monitoring catch and behaviour, they can contribute to scientific data collection while at sea. 
“Our view is that costs need to come down across the board.  Many, many fishers are doing it tough right now.  We want our industry to have a sustainable future in every sense of the word.”
She says she can’t comment on the specifics of discarding unwanted catch at sea, as it’s just a proposal at the moment. “If the system is managed correctly with cameras and observers, it will continue to be sustainable because all fish taken will be counted, whether they are brought back to shore or not, and fishers will continue to have strict catch limits applied.”