Implementing Change in Fisheries Management: Principles and Case Study

New Zealand has recently implemented major changes to its Fisheries management regimes including strengthening the quota based property right, devolving the delivery of quota registry services to the industry and developing new computer systems to support industry and government requirements. The success of these changes is due to a number of key factors including a property right based quota system, a single strong industry body representing the interests of fishers, an existing cost recovery process providing incentives for greater transparency and efficiency, co-operation between the government Fisheries Agency and the Industry, devolved but regulated delivery of registry services, and a third party able to facilitate the working of all parties together. A third party business integrator helped bring the Fisheries Agency and the Industry together to develop a joint programme with agreed joint funding to meet the requirements of new legislation. This occurred under a strong governance structure with government and industry as equal partners. A comprehensive plan was developed that required all parties to work together to common goals, namely the development of the processes and systems required to deliver the registry services required by the new Fisheries Act and the establishment of the devolved organisation to deliver these services. This plan operated from March 2000 through successful implementation of the Act and its associated processes and systems on 1 October 2001. The critical path for implementation was the development of new computer systems. The key ingredients for success here were a pragmatic approach to requirements, careful planning, a stable team and use of offshore resources.