Overseas investment decision for case 200620052 - Maruha (NZ) Corporation Ltd

The permission has been granted as Ministers determined it met the criteria in section 57(4) of the Fisheries Act 1996.

The Applicant (Maruha NZ) carries on commercial fishing in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone from a chartered fishing vessel, the "Aleksey Slobodchikov". Part of the annual quota requirements for this vessel is being met from Hoki quota held by its wholly owned subsidiary, Ceebay Holdings Limited (Ceebay), with the remainder from target and by-catch quota leased from third parties, pursuant to permissions granted under section 57 of the Fisheries Act 1996.

The Total Allowable Commercial Catch (TACC) for Hoki has progressively been reduced. Maruha NZ's fishing operations have therefore become increasingly dependent on leasing in quota in other target species, particularly Jack Mackerel. Maruha NZ wishes to acquire a core quota holding of other target species to provide the operational certainty necessary to continue to fish on its own account.

Maruha NZ has been granted permission to acquire up to 5,000 tonnes of ITQ of other species. This is approximately equivalent to the level of the core Hoki tonnage that was available from Ceebay in 2000. The permission permits Maruha NZ to acquire ITQ over a 3 year period from 28 September 2006 generating an ACE of up to 3,000 tonnes of Jack Mackerel, 2,000 tonnes of Southern Blue Whiting, 2,000 tonnes of Squid (SQU1T and SQU6T), and 2,000 tonnes of other target and by-catch species (excluding Hoki) provided that the total held at any time does not generate an ACE of more than 5,000 tonnes.