Greenpeace: Fisheries Amendment Bill is ‘rotten to the core’
The controversial Fisheries Amendment Bill is facing mounting opposition, with environmental group Greenpeace Aotearoa warning it could weaken protections for marine ecosystems and reduce public transparency over fishing practices.
Greenpeace rejects partial changes to fisheries bill
Greenpeace says the coalition government’s removal of one item in NZ First’s ‘ocean exploitation bill’ is not enough to satisfy public outcry, with the organisation calling for the bill to be rejected in its entirety.
Government concession fails to ease concerns
On Wednesday PM Christopher Luxon announced that after listening to concerns about the Fisheries Amendment Bill, sections that scrapped minimum fish size requirements for commercial operators will be removed. Greenpeace says no one is fooled by this small concession.
“A handout to the commercial fishing industry”
Oceans lead Ellie Hooper says: “All the Prime Minister and coalition partners have done is remove one aspect of this bonfire of a bill. But the scales have fallen from everyone’s eyes on this.
“The bill, even with the size requirements removed, remains a handout to the commercial fishing industry, who Jones advocates for. It incentivises the worst types of fishing – unselective bottom trawling – the impacts of which are being felt increasingly by all.
“It’s clear the ocean is depleted and it’s harder to go out and catch a fish. We’ve got crashed populations, and ocean habitats are struggling. Incentivising trawling, which destroys the ocean and takes too many fish out of the sea, is not going to fly with the New Zealand public.”
Concerns over transparency and public access
The bill contains proposals to limit public consultation on fisheries decisions and blocks public access to footage from cameras on boats. Anyone who shares or publishes this footage could face a fine of up to $50,000.
Public trust and environmental accountability at risk
Hooper points out that without public access to footage from cameras on boats, mistrust in the commercial fishing industry will only continue to grow.
“New Zealanders have a right to know how the fishing industry is impacting ocean health. What should be abundantly clear to the Prime Minister and all the politicians in an election year is that the public cares deeply about what happens out at sea. And there are more of them in the voting population than commercial fishing bosses.
“A transparent industry that boasts their world-leading fisheries management, wouldn’t need these cover-ups,” says Hooper. “It just looks like they’re trying to hide the plain facts of their activities, from hauling up coral to killing fur seals and dolphins as bycatch.”
Calls for the bill to be scrapped entirely
In a statement on social media today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wrote he wanted to ensure “our kids and grandkids have abundant fisheries for the decades to come”.
“If the Prime Minister stands by this statement, then the amendment bill has got to go.” says Hooper. “Not to select committee, not for tiny tweaks – but be voted down by politicians with a backbone who want to actually represent the vast numbers of New Zealanders opposing it.
“The coalition government may have collective amnesia on this bill but the ocean community doesn’t. The amendments have been, and continue to be rejected – that includes proposals to lock up cameras on boats, incentivise trawling, and erode the public’s right to have a say. The fish bone they’ve thrown us is nowhere near enough.”
With ocean health under increasing strain and public scrutiny intensifying, the Fisheries Amendment Bill New Zealand has become a flashpoint for broader questions about transparency, sustainability, and whose interests are ultimately being served.
