Ling Longline Fishery Surveillance Audit 2019

New Zealand Ling Longline Fishery Surveillance Audit 2019

The longline fisheries for LIN 3, LIN 4, LIN 5, LIN 6 and LIN 7 have been MSC certified since 2014 and are undergoing re-assessement in 2019.

DWG undertakes to make all non-confidential information that is provided to the Conformance Assessment Body publicly available on this webpage to ensure all documents are easily accessible by all participants.

A summary of the key information from these references can be found in the Situation Report.

Principle 1

"A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery."

The intent of this principle is to ensure that the productive capacities of the resources are maintained at high levels and are not sacrificed in favour of short term interests.

Principle 2

"Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends."

The intent of this principle is to encourage management of fisheries from an ecosystem perspective under a system designed to restrain the impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem.


Baker, G. B., Jensz, K., Cunningham, R., Holdsworth, M. & Chilvers, B. L. (2015). White-capped albatross aerial survey 2015. Report prepared by Latitude 42 Environmental Consultants Pty Ltd for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Wellington. 31p.

Baker, B., Jensz, K. (2019). 2018 aerial survey of Salvin's albatross at the Bounty Islands. Final report to the Conservation Services Programme, Department of Conservation. Latitude 42, Australia. 11 p.

Bell, M.D.; Bell, D.J.; Boyle, D.P. (2017). Chatham Island Mollymawk research on Te Tara Koi Koia: November 2016. Report prepared by Wildlife Management International Limited for the Department of Conservation, Wellington. 24p.

Bell, E.A. (2013 [updated 2018]). Grey petrel. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online.

DoC (2019). Conservation Services Programme Annual Plan 2019/20. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 88 p.

DoC (2019a). Conservation Services Programme Annual Research Summary 2017-18. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 93 p.

Dragonfly (2019). Protected species bycatch 2002-03 to 2017-18.

DWG (2019). Ling FMA 2-7 Bottom Longline Operational Procedures. Version 3.0. 27 p.

DWG (2019a). 10 Commandments for ling longliners. 1 p.

DWG (2019b). Environmental Liaison Officer’s report – Environmental Training and Liaison for Deepwater Fishing Crew: 2017-18 Report. 5 p.

Finucci, B., Anderson, O. & Edwards, C. (2019).  Non-target fish and invertebrate catch and discards in New Zealand ling longline fisheries from 2002-03 to 2017-18. Research Project DAE201801. Presentation to Aquatic Environment Working Group, 9/10/19.

FNZ (2019). Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2018.  Compiled by the Fisheries Science Team, Ministry for Primary Industries, Wellington New Zealand. 704 p.

FNZ (2019a). Annual Review Report for Deepwater Fisheries 2017/18.  Fisheries New Zealand Information Paper No: 2019/01. 112 p. 

Fu, D. & Sagar, P. (2016). The 2014 demographic assessment of the Snares Islands population of Southern Buller’s albatross (Diomedea bulleri bulleri). New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 165. 40 p.

Richard, Y., Abraham, E. R., & Berkenbusch, K. (2017). Assessment of the risk of commercial fisheries to New Zealand seabirds, 2006–07 to 2014–15. New Zealand Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Report No. 191. 133 p.

Robertson, H. A.; Dowding, J. E.; Elliott, G. P.; Hitchmough, R. A.; Miskelly, C. M.; O’Donnell, C. F. J.; Powlesland, R. G.; Sagar, P. M.; Scofield, R. P.; Taylor, G. A. (2013). Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2012. NZ Threat Classification Series 4. Department of Conservation. Wellington.

Sagar, P., Thompson, D. & Schofield, P. (2017).  Population Study of Southern Buller’s Albatross on The Snares. Report prepared for the Deepwater Group Limited, May 2017. 13 p.

Sagar, P., Charteris, M., Parker, G., Rexer-Huber, K. & Thompson, D. (2018). Salvin's albatross: Bounty Islands population project. Final report to the Conservation Services Programme, Department of Conservation, prepared by NIWA. 18 p.

Waugh, S.M.; Bartle J.A. 2013. Westland petrel. In: Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online

Waugh, S.M.; Barbraud, C.; Adams, L.; Freeman, A.N.D.; Wilson, K.-J.; Wood, g.; Landers, T.J.; Baker, G.B. 2015.  Modelling the demography and population dynamics of a subtropical seabird, and the influence of environmental factors. Condor 117: 147–164.


Principle 3

"The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable."

The intent of this principle is to ensure that there is an institutional and operational framework for implementing Principles 1 and 2, appropriate to the size and scale of the fishery.


DWG (2019). Ling FMA 2-7 Bottom Longline Operational Procedures. Version 3.0. 27 p.

DWG (2019a). 10 Commandments for ling longliners. 1 p.

FNZ (2018). Annual Operational Plan for Deepwater Fisheries 2018/19. Fisheries New Zealand Technical Paper No: 2018/07. 42 p. 

FNZ (2019). Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2018.  Compiled by the Fisheries Science Team, Ministry for Primary Industries, Wellington New Zealand. 704 p.

FNZ (2019a). Annual Review Report for Deepwater Fisheries 2017/18.  Fisheries New Zealand Information Paper No: 2019/01. 112 p. 

FNZ (2019b). National Fisheries Plan for Deepwater and Middle-depth Fisheries 2019. Fisheries New Zealand Technical Paper No: 2019/03. 32 p.

FNZ (2019c). Annual Operational Plan for Deepwater Fisheries 2019/20. Fisheries New Zealand Technical Paper No: 2019/05. 41 p. 

Helson, J., Leslie, S., Clement, G., Wells, R. and Wood, R. (2010). Private rights, public benefits: Industry-driven seabed protection. Marine Policy 34, 557–566.

Ministry of Fisheries (2009). Fisheries 2030: New Zealanders maximising the benefits from the use of fisheries within environmental limits. Author: Wellington.

Ministry of Fisheries (2011). Research and Science Information Standard for New Zealand Fisheries. Ministry of Fisheries, April 2011. 31 p. 

MPI (2010). Memorandum of Understanding: Continuing a partnership between the Ministry of Fisheries and the deepwater fishing industry for the management of New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries. 12 p.

MPI (2011). Ling: National Deepwater Fisheries Plan. 50 p. https://deepwatergroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2011-National-Fisheries-Plan-for-Deepwater-Ling-chapter.pdf

MPI (2013). National Plan of Action to reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in New Zealand Fisheries. 59 p.

MPI (2017). Medium Term Research Plan for Deepwater Fisheries 2018/19 – 2022/23. MPI Information Paper No: 2017/11. 21 p.


Additional Supporting Documents

DWG (2019) Report on Ling Longline Bait Use

Surveillance Report

This report will be published when it becomes available.