KEY POINTS:
Tougher penalties for fishers who exceed catch limits are being proposed by Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton.
This follows protests from recreational fishing groups, which say commercial fishers frequently breach quota limits and the penalties for this are far less than the profits from selling the fish.
Since 1991, fishers have had to pay a "deemed value" as a penalty for each kilogram of fish they land over their annual catch entitlement.
"The deemed values have been too low and I am proposing to increase them as a disincentive for fishers to land more than they are entitled to," Mr Anderton said.
Deemed values were introduced because some fishing methods, such as trawling, catch fish species that the fishers are not intending to catch.
To prevent these fish being wasted, they can be landed and processed.
But to ensure fishers have no monetary gain or incentive to catch species for which they have no entitlement, they are charged the deemed value.
"Deemed values will be adjusted more often to ensure fishers have no incentive to fish in excess of their annual catch entitlement," Mr Anderton said.
- NZPA
