The New Zealand Best Fish Guide - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 378

The following management and research factors were considered important el-
ements of an ecologically sustainable management and research system, and as
standards for assessment of the management of a species:
annual quantitative stock assessments and setting catch limits on the basis of
best assessments and use of precautionary principle;
biological reference points or trigger points or bottom-line standards identified
(i.e. indicators against which the status of a stock can be judged);
formal management plans and strategies based on the knowledge of species and
stocks;
sound basic biological knowledge of the species, including natural mortality,
age at recruitment, age at maturity and maximum age; and
adequacy of recent research, including independent at-sea observation and mon-
itoring, and the use of fishery-independent methods (e.g. random trawl surveys,
tagging or acoustic methods).
Stocks were rated (A to E) on the basis of the five management and research factors
set out above.
Bycatch of protected species or threatened species
All marine mammals and seabirds, and three other marine species are protected
under the New Zealand Wildlife Act 1954 and the Marine Mammals Protection
Act 1978. The IUCN - World Conservation Union and the DoC list New Zealand
threatened species (BirdLife International 2000, 2004, IUCN 2001, Hitchmough
2002).
The marine species assessed in this criterion are predominantly marine mammals
and seabirds, but there has been a move since 1997 in New Zealand to determine
the threat status of other marine species including certain sharks and corals. For
example, basking shark ( Cetorhinus maximus ) is listed in both the Convention on
Migratory Species and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species, and is
caught in a range of trawl fisheries including the squid and hoki fisheries.
The scores A to E were set to indicate the risk posed by fishing to species globally
threatened with extinction or the level of protected species bycatch (Table 18.5).
No distinction was made between the IUCN categories 'near-threatened” and 'least
concern'.
Effectiveness of management unit
Under both quota and non-quota management, several species may be managed
as a single-quota group. For example, three oreo species are managed as one unit
despite different biological characteristics and depth ranges. Eight flatfish species
are managed as one unit. Most flatfish are fast growing and short lived (3-6 years).
Recent studies have shown that brill ( Colistum guntheri ) and turbot ( C. nudipinnis )