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Conservation Act 1987

Freshwater fisheries - Miscellaneous provisions

26ZQ: Buying, selling, or possessing fish, contrary to Act

You could also call this:

"Breaking the rules about buying, selling, or keeping fish in New Zealand"

If you buy, sell, or have freshwater fish to sell that were caught in New Zealand against the rules, you are committing an offence. You also commit an offence if you buy, sell, or have sports fish to sell that were caught in New Zealand, no matter if they were caught legally or not.

If you are selling a meal that includes fish and people pay for that meal, it is considered selling the fish. However, if you caught the sports fish legally and serve it to yourself and your guests, this rule does not apply to you.

There is an exception to this rule if Fish and Game Councils or the Crown are selling sports fish to each other for conservation purposes, and the fish were bred or reared by the seller. You can find more information about this law by looking at the Conservation Law Reform Act 1990 and the Conservation Amendment Act 1996.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM106028.

Topics:
Environment and resources > ConservationGovernment and voting > Government departmentsFarming and fishing > Farming and fishing
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26ZP: Determination of closed seasons for fishing, or

"Rules about when you can't fish for certain fish to help protect them"

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26ZQA: Possessing certain kinds of fish without approval, or

"Having certain fish without the Minister of Conservation's okay can get you in trouble"

Part 5BFreshwater fisheries
Miscellaneous provisions

26ZQBuying, selling, or possessing fish, contrary to Act

  1. Every person commits an offence who buys, sells, or has in his or her possession for the purpose of sale any freshwater fish taken in New Zealand in contravention of this Part, or any regulation made or notice given under this Act.

  2. Every person commits an offence who buys, sells, or has in his or her possession for the purpose of sale any sports fish taken in New Zealand, whether taken lawfully or otherwise.

  3. For the purpose of this section, fish shall be deemed to be sold if it forms part of a meal for which payment for that meal or any part of the meal is made, or which is supplied to any person (whether in accordance with the terms of a contract of service or otherwise) who is employed by the person by whom the meal is supplied: provided that nothing in this subsection applies to sports fish taken legally pursuant to a current licence and served to the angler who took the fish and the angler's immediate guests.

  4. Nothing in this section applies to the purchase, sale, or possession for sale of sports fish where the sale or intended sale is between Fish and Game Councils, or between a Fish and Game Council and the Crown acting for conservation purposes, where the fish have been bred or reared by the seller.

Compare
Notes
  • Section 26ZQ: inserted, on , by section 17 of the Conservation Law Reform Act 1990 (1990 No 31).
  • Section 26ZQ(1A): inserted, on , by section 29 of the Conservation Amendment Act 1996 (1996 No 1).