Shane Jones makes the right call on hoiho

Tuesday, 28 July 2026

EDITORIAL: As reported exclusively by The Post on Tuesday, the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jones, has moved to permanently close all set-net fishing around Otago Peninsula. The move is designed to protect hoiho, the yellow-eyed penguin, which may adorn New Zealand's $5 note but is still facing the threat of extinction.

Despite his bombast and bluster over fisheries and many other issues, Mr Jones has proven himself to be a responsible minister, concerned about the sustainability of fisheries and prepared to act in their long-term interests. He temporarily closed this fishery in 2025 and will now make the closure permanent from September.

Unlike the closure of other fisheries over time - and, in some cases, their subsequent reopening - such as scallops, blue cod in the Marlborough Sounds and toheroa, this decision is not about protecting fish stocks but penguin populations.

The numbers are sobering. According to the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, there were about 500 breeding pairs on the mainland in 2012. By last year that had dived to just 115. Mr Jones was quick to point out that starvation and predation remain the leading causes of the decline, but acknowledged that penguins do end up as set nets’ by-catch.

For the commercial fishing businesses on the Peninsula and the families who rely on them, this is undoubtedly a blow. Otago Peninsula is one of the last parts of New Zealand with a relatively substantial small-scale commercial fishing industry. Building a business around a particular fishery, investing significant capital and then having the Government change the rules is a bitter pill to swallow.

But preventing New Zealand from losing one of its most iconic and distinctive native species is surely precisely the sort of thing New Zealanders expect their governments to do. Mr Jones' decision belies his reputation as someone who backs the fishing industry regardless.

It also raises broader questions about the long-term health of New Zealand's commercial fisheries.

When New Zealand introduced its modern Quota Management System in 1986 it was regarded as world-leading. Its purpose was to prevent overfishing by replacing the race to catch fish with a system of property rights. Annual catch limits are set for each fish stock and quota can be bought and sold. Today the system covers 642 fish stocks across 98 species, with quotas regularly reviewed by the Ministry for Primary Industries to ensure sustainability.

Maintaining such a system, however, depends on robust scientific research. Regulators need to understand fish populations, breeding patterns, migration, habitat and the effects of environmental change in order to make informed decisions about annual catch limits.

Like many regulated industries, much of that work is funded through industry levies. Those levies were recently reduced by Mr Jones from $41 million to $36m. They help fund fisheries observers, scientific research and administration. None of that work is cheap and, as climate change alters ocean temperatures and fish distributions, it is becoming even more complex.

The result is that New Zealand's much-vaunted fisheries management system may no longer be as world-leading as we like to believe. A number of fish stocks are under severe pressure. Orange roughy is the best-known example. More recently, as reported by The Post, the eastern tarakihi fishery has effectively collapsed, while the western stock is estimated to be at just 29% of its target level. Some crayfish populations are functionally extinct. In total, 19 fish stocks are classified as depleted, overfished or collapsed.

At the same time, Fisheries New Zealand notes that 87% of assessed fish stocks, representing 97% of the commercial catch by weight, remain above sustainability limits.

Both things can be true. The overall system can be functioning well while individual fisheries find themselves in serious trouble. That is little comfort for the communities that depend on those fisheries, for biodiversity or for the species themselves.

If New Zealand wants to preserve the integrity of its fisheries management system, it must ensure sufficient resources are devoted to understanding what is happening in key fisheries before problems become crises. This is a sector worth more than $5 billion to the economy, generating around $2.2b in export earnings each year, and one of particular importance to iwi. Whether through higher industry levies or greater public investment in fisheries science, maintaining that knowledge base should be much higher on the Government's list of priorities.

In the meantime, The Post supports Mr Jones' decision to permanently ban set nets around Otago Peninsula. Having to remove hoiho from the $5 note because the species had become extinct, or even having to to travel to Stewart Island to see one, would be a national embarrassment.