Fisheries Minister Shane Jones goes for maximum cut to Challenger orange roughy stock

Fisheries Minister Shane Jones goes for maximum cut to Challenger orange roughy stock
Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has made his first, potentially controversial, decision on fishing quota. (Image: BusinessDesk)
Jem Traylen
Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is cutting the catch limit for a valuable deepsea fishery by more than half.The orange roughy fishery lies in a region known as the Challenger Plateau and sits partly outside New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), so is shared with other countries such as Australia.Because of concerns about a declining population, officials recommended that the current 2058-tonne quota for the part that lies within the EEZ be cut by 20% to 57%.Cautious approachJones went for the most cautious option of 57%, which was w...