Frequently asked questions: Fishing allocation

Fishing quota owners will be given some NZUs in a one-off allocation to compensate for the effect of increased fuel costs from the ETS on the value of quota. Producers of transport fuels, such as petrol and diesel, became participants in the ETS on 1 July 2010. This means they have to pay NZUs to the government to cover the emissions of greenhouse gases that are produced by their activities. The companies involved will pass on the costs of these NZUs to their customers, resulting in an increase of the price of transport fuels.

People or organisations that were listed as holding quota on the quota register on 24 September 2009 were able to apply for an allocation of NZUs between 21 June and 30 July 2010.

In some instances, successors to the quota owners (as at 24 September 2009) may be eligible for an allocation of NZUs. For example, if an individual quota owner (as at 24 September 2009) has died since then or a body corporate quota owner has been wound up or dissolved since that date, then some other person or body corporate may be eligible for the allocation that would otherwise have gone to the deceased person or wound-up company. The Ministry for the Environment (on behalf of the Minister for Climate Change Issues) will consider applications from successors and determine their eligibility. People claiming to be successors must provide evidence necessary to establish that they are eligible to receive an allocation of NZUs under the Fishing Allocation Plan.

Some iwi are yet to be allocated their fishing quota under the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992, or have been allocated their fishing quota since 24 September 2009. Their interest is held on the quota register by Te Ohu Kai Moana Trustee Limited. Te Ohu Kai Moana will receive the allocation of NZUs and are responsible for transferring the them to these iwi. Amendments have been made to the Maori Fisheries Act 2004 to provide for this.

Note: The Draft Fishing Allocation Plan Consultation Document incorrectly referred to the ‘Maori Fisheries Settlement Act 2004’. The correct reference is ‘Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act 1992.

There are 700,000 NZUs set aside for fishing quota owners. Section 74 of the Climate Change Response Act 2002 contains a formula that sets out how NZUs will be allocated to each eligible quota owner.

That depends on the amount of quota each person held on 24 September 2009. The NZUs will be allocated in proportion to the total fishing quota weight equivalent that they held. The table below gives examples of the approximate number of NZUs that would be received for certain amounts of quota. NZUs can only be allocated as whole units. NZUs will be rounded down to zero from 0.1 – 0.4 units and NZUs will be rounded up to the next whole unit from 0.5 – 0.9. Therefore the minimum amount of quota (in kilograms) to receive 1 NZU is in the range of 411kg to 821kg.

 Note: The numbers in this table differ slightly to those in the Draft Fishing Allocation Consultation Document. 

The number of NZUs were eligible to receive under the Fishing Allocation Plan is based on the number of quota shares you held on close of 24 September 2009, converted to total weight equivalent (expressed in kilograms).

The quota weight equivalent of quota shares for each species can be determined by dividing the Total Allowance Commercial Catch (TACC) at 24 September 2009 by 100,000,000 to get the Quota Weight Equivalent (QWE). The QWE is then multiplied by the number of shares owned.

For example:
TACC for Snapper 1 at 24 September 2009 is 4,500,000kg ÷ 100,000,000 = 0.045kg
QWE x 20,000,000 quota shares = 900,000kg QWE of stock.

All NZUs that can be used within the ETS are held and managed through the NZ Emission Unit Register (EUR), which is run by the Ministry of Economic Development.

The Ministry will notify applicants of its initial decision (called a preliminary determination) on the total number of NZUs the applicant will receive, giving applicants an opportunity to supply further information by a specified date if they think this decision is incorrect.

After considering any further information supplied, the Ministry will make a final decision (determination) about the applicant’s entitlement to receive NZUs and notify applicants of this along with the date that NZUs will be transferred. 

Quota owners will be able to sell their NZUs to participants in the NZ ETS (such as industrial and energy companies or transport fuel producers) or to a broker or trader. NZUs allocated to quota owners cannot be sold outside of New Zealand.

Until at least the end of 2012, the value of an NZU is unlikely to be more than $25 and may be less.

There are currently no intentions to require the fishing industry to track or pay for its emissions.

No. NZUs do not expire - the ETS is operational and does not have an end date.

No. Fishing quota owners decided whether or not they applied for and trade NZUs. Fishing quota owners will not have to track and pay for their emissions, regardless of whether or not they applied for and trade NZUs.

Yes, the NZEUR is a public register. The Climate Change Response Act 2002 requires some transactions to be reported publicly at particular times.

Quota owners may be able to sell their NZUs to participants in the ETS (such as industrial and energy companies), or to brokers or traders, or they could choose to transfer the NZUs to another person or organisation.

NZUs allocated to fishing quota owners cannot be sold outside of New Zealand (this means they cannot be converted into AAUs).

The units you receive are your property to dispose of as how you wish. This includes selling or gifting them.  

No it is not compulsory to apply for units. But you cannot receive any units unless you apply by 30 July 2010.

Once your application form is received, you will be mailed a notice acknowledging receipt.  You will receive a notice of preliminary determination after the application closing date.

If your eligibility to receive NZUs is confirmed, the allocated NZUs will be transferred to your open Emission Unit Registry holding account by the end of 2010. If your Emission Unit Registry holding account is not open, the allocated NZUs will not be transferred until the account has been opened.

Call 0800 CLIMATE to check on the status of applications.

The Climate Change Response Act 2002 requires the Minister to direct allocated NZUs be transferred to your EUR account. This also ensures that allocated NZUs are given to the right people, because EUR accounts are opened in the name of all the quota owners.

No, this is a one-off process.