Fisheries Act 1996

Quota management system - Generation of annual catch entitlement

66: Generation of annual catch entitlement at beginning of new fishing year

You could also call this:

"How your fishing quota turns into a yearly fish catch limit at the start of each fishing year"

When a new fishing year starts, your quota generates an annual catch entitlement. The chief executive calculates this entitlement for each quota owner based on the amount of quota they own. They use a formula to work this out. You get your annual catch entitlement by dividing your quota shares by 100,000,000, then multiplying that by the total allowable commercial catch. This gives you the amount of fish you can catch, in kilogrammes. The chief executive makes sure the total catch entitlements add up to the allowed catch for the stock. The chief executive also makes sure the catch entitlement is a whole number of kilogrammes. They round up or down to get this whole number. This ensures you know exactly how much fish you can catch.

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This page was last updated on 12 November 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM396379.

Topics:

Environment and resources > Farming and fishingBusiness > Industry rules

65: Characteristics of annual catch entitlement, or

"What is an annual catch entitlement in fishing laws?"

67: Allocation of annual catch entitlement, or

"How the government decides your yearly fishing limit"

Part 4Quota management system
Generation of annual catch entitlement

66Generation of annual catch entitlement at beginning of new fishing year

On the first day of each fishing year, quota shall generate annual catch entitlement.
The chief executive shall, in respect of each quota management stock, calculate as at the first day of each fishing year the amount of annual catch entitlement that would be generated by the amount of quota owned by each quota owner, in accordance with the following formula:
$(a ÷ 100 000 000) × b = c$

Where:
- a a
  is the number of quota shares held by the quota owner; and
- b b
  is the total allowable commercial catch (expressed in kilogrammes); and
- c c
  is the amount (expressed in kilogrammes) of annual catch entitlement that would be generated by the amount of quota owned by each quota owner.
Any annual catch entitlement calculated under subsection (2) shall be rounded up or rounded down by the chief executive to ensure that—
the sum of all annual catch entitlements equals the applicable total allowable commercial catch for the stock; and
only whole kilogrammes of annual catch entitlement are generated.