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Resource Management Act 1991

Standards, policy statements, and plans - Local authority policy statements and plans - Regional plans

71: Requirements for rules that control fishing

You could also call this:

"Rules for councils to control fishing in coastal areas"

Illustration for Resource Management Act 1991

When a regional council makes rules about fishing in the coastal marine area, they must follow certain rules. You need to know that a regional council cannot include a rule that controls fishing in a regional coastal plan unless the rule is included in the proposed plan when it is notified. The rule can also apply within an area to which a notified rule applies.

A regional council can make small changes to the boundaries of an area where a fishing rule applies after the proposed plan is notified. If a regional council includes a rule that controls fishing in a regional coastal plan, the rule cannot classify fishing as a controlled or restricted activity. The rule can classify fishing as a prohibited activity in an area.

You can find more information about rules that control fishing in clause 4B of Schedule 1, which requires a regional council to complete an assessment of the impact of the proposed rule in accordance with section 32(2A). This section still applies even if it contradicts section 77A. A regional council can classify fishing as a permitted activity in an area only if it is an exception to a rule that prohibits fishing in that area.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1494471.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Farming and fishingGovernment and voting > Local councils
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Part 5Standards, policy statements, and plans
Local authority policy statements and plans: Regional plans

71Requirements for rules that control fishing

  1. This section applies to rules that control fishing within the coastal marine area.

  2. A regional council must not include a rule that controls fishing in a regional coastal plan unless—

  3. the rule (a notified rule) is included in the proposed regional coastal plan when it is notified; or
    1. the rule applies within an area to which a notified rule applies.

      1. However, a regional council may, after a proposed regional coastal plan is notified, make minor adjustments to the boundaries of an area to which a rule that controls fishing applies.

      2. If a regional council includes a rule that controls fishing in a regional coastal plan,—

      3. the rule must not classify fishing as a controlled activity, a restricted discretionary activity, a discretionary activity, or a non-complying activity:
        1. the rule may classify fishing as a prohibited activity in an area:
          1. the rule may classify fishing as a permitted activity in an area only if it is an exception to a rule made under paragraph (b) that applies to the area.

            1. See also clause 4B of Schedule 1, which—

            2. requires a regional council that intends to propose a rule that controls fishing in a regional coastal plan to complete an assessment of the impact of the proposed rule in accordance with section 32(2A); and
              1. restricts the notification of the proposed rule unless the Director-General of the Ministry for Primary Industries concurs with the rule.

                1. This section applies despite section 77A.

                Notes
                • Section 71: inserted, on , by section 17 of the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 41).