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Fisheries Act 1996

Access to fishery - Fishing vessel registration

103: Fishing vessels must be registered

You could also call this:

"Fishing vessels must be registered to sell fish or seaweed in New Zealand"

Illustration for Fisheries Act 1996

You must not use a fishing vessel to take fish or seaweed for sale in New Zealand unless it is registered. The vessel must be a New Zealand ship or exempted under section 103A(1). You must comply with all conditions of registration. You need to apply to register a fishing vessel and pay a fee if required. The application must be made by the vessel's operator and include evidence of the vessel's registration as a New Zealand ship or its exemption under section 103A(1). The chief executive will register the vessel if the application is satisfactory. If you break the rules, you can get in trouble and have to pay a penalty as stated in section 252(5). The chief executive's conditions for registering a vessel are important and must be followed. Using a vessel for fish farming does not require it to be registered as a fishing vessel.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM396970.

Topics:
Environment and resources > Farming and fishingBusiness > Industry rules
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102: Access to registers, or

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103A: Process for granting exemption from requirement to be New Zealand ship and granting consent to registration, or

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Part 6Access to fishery
Fishing vessel registration

103Fishing vessels must be registered

  1. A person must not use a fishing vessel, or any tender of that fishing vessel, to take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed for sale, in New Zealand fisheries waters, unless—

  2. the vessel is a New Zealand ship or has been exempted under section 103A(1) from that requirement; and
    1. the vessel is registered under this section in the Fishing Vessel Register as a fishing vessel; and
      1. that person complies with all conditions of registration.

        1. An application to register a fishing vessel must—

        2. be made by the operator of that fishing vessel; and
          1. be made to the chief executive in the approved form and be accompanied by the prescribed fee (if any); and
            1. be supported by evidence of the vessel's registration as a New Zealand ship or its exemption under section 103A(1), and any other evidence that may be specified in the approved form.

              1. Consent under section 103A(4) is required before a foreign-owned vessel (other than a vessel owned or operated by an overseas person who has obtained consent under the overseas investment fishing provisions or is exempt from the requirement for that consent) may be registered as a fishing vessel.

              2. If the chief executive, having received an application made in accordance with this section, is satisfied that the vessel is registered as a New Zealand ship or has been exempted under section 103A(1) from that requirement, and is otherwise eligible to be registered under this section, he or she must, as soon as practicable,—

              3. register the fishing vessel,—
                1. in the case of a New Zealand ship, for a period not exceeding 5 years; or
                  1. in the case of a vessel exempted from the requirement to be a New Zealand ship, for the relevant period under section 103A(3):
                  2. issue to the operator a certificate of registration in respect of that vessel.

                    1. All conditions of the chief executive's consent to the registration of a vessel in the Fishing Vessel Register are deemed for all purposes to be conditions of the registration of the vessel.

                    2. This section does not require that a vessel be registered as a fishing vessel merely because it is used to take fish, aquatic life, or seaweed produced as part of a lawful fish farming operation.

                    3. A person commits an offence and is liable to the penalty set out in section 252(5) if the person contravenes subsection (1).

                    Notes
                    • Section 103: replaced, on , by section 8 of the Fisheries (Foreign Charter Vessels and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 60).