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Individual Transferrable Quotas: New Zealand’s Experience. New Zealand Fisheries Waters. Large EEZ (4.4 million km 2 ) 70% below 1,000 m Medium productivity Commercial Fisheries Non-commercial Fisheries. Reform Context (early 1980s). Classic fisheries issues Inshore stocks overfished
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New Zealand Fisheries Waters • Large EEZ (4.4 million km2) • 70% below 1,000 m • Medium productivity • Commercial Fisheries • Non-commercial Fisheries
Reform Context (early 1980s) • Classic fisheries issues • Inshore stocks overfished • Commercial fisheries over-capitalised • Unprofitable, uncompetitive, rent dissipation • Declining recreational fishing • Risk of extending problems to newly developing deepwater fisheries
New Zealand’s Response • Objectives of the Quota Management System • Primarily economic drivers • Restore profitability to inshore fisheries • Avoid over-capitalisation in new deep-water fisheries • Limit catches to MSY • QMS in place since 1986, after 25+ years experience everyone has adjusted
Quota Management System (QMS) • Several refinements have been made since 1986 but the basic tenets remain: • Setting catch limits • No discarding QMS species • Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) • Markets determine allocation of commercial effort • Monitoring and enforcement
New Zealand's ITQs • Species and area specific • Perpetual and transferable • Generate ACE (annual catch entitlement) • Some ownership restrictions • Maximum holdings (aggregation limits) 10-45% of TACC • No foreign ownership • Ongoing allocation only via ITQ and ACE trading
Cost Recovery/Subsidies • NZ originally considered resource rentals based on the decision to allocate quota without tender process • Now use cost recovery mechanism to charge quota holders selected government costs (e.g. observers, fisheries research, administration) • No subsidies in QMS system; quota owners pay c. 30-35% of government costs
Outcomes • Reflect two primary policy objectives of QMS • Resource sustainability delivered • Economic performance improved
Challenges unique to QMS • Designing systems to administer and audit QMS • Required refinements to suit local conditions and policy requirements • Social impacts anticipated and managed • Social dislocation in small coastal fishing communities • Growth in large vertically-integrated fishing ports
What general conclusions can be drawn from the NZ experience?
General conclusions • QMS objectives focused on economic efficiency • NZ’s ITQ design choices reflect this objective • If you have other management objectives, … the design of your rights based management regime would be different
General conclusions • NZ’s policy design features allowed for controlled industry restructuring • Building legitimacy and collaboration is key to success • Quota allocation on catch history basis • Strongly specified ITQ (perpetual, tradable and enshrined in law) • Provides certainty/security for investment • Quota ownership limits
Other key considerations • Avoid disadvantaging competing sectors • Design policy to encourage collective responsibility • Do not overlook importance of integrated planning