If New Zealand had no restrictions or control over the fishing industry, then fish might start appearing as a rare species on cute-endangered-animal posters. By government control of fisheries, we can help to ensure the future biodiversity of our waters.
             Biodiversity means having a large range of organisms living in an area. This is important for keeping a large range of fish and wild organisms in New Zealand seas. By controlling commercial and recreational fishing, the government can help to maintain biodiversity. For this reason in June 2000, the government allowed $14.1 million to go towards research for increasing our insight into marine ecosystems.
             A range of laws are set down by the Ministry of Fisheries help to regulate fishing. The key to this is the 1986 Quota Management System, introduced for the management and conservation of commercial fisheries. There are rules such as closed areas and seasons for different species fishing, fish size limits, mesh size limits for trawler nets, trawling area restrictions and total volumes allowed to be caught. These volume regulations are the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), which limits numbers of fish that can be caught by fishers and the Total Allowable Commercial Catch specifically for commercial volumes. The TAC is re-evaluated and determined each year through scientific research into the abundance and survival of different fish species.
             There are also restrictions for recreational fishing, because these fishers have almost as much impact on fish populations as commercial fishers. The rules for recreational fishers include things such as size restriction: in the North Island snapper shorter than 27cm long must be thrown back; bag (volume) limits, net size limits, controlled areas and not selling or trading catch. Gear restrictions also apply for things like the size of net mesh and lobster pots. Infringement fees are the penalty for anyone
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