Guardians of the Sea: The Role and Risks Faced by MPI Fisheries Officers

New Zealand is a nation defined by its relationship with the ocean. With over 15,000

kilometers of coastline and an exclusive economic zone among the largest in the world, the sustainable management of our marine resources is critical — not just for the environment, but for future generations, our economy, and our identity.

At the heart of this effort are Fisheries Officers, employed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Often working behind the scenes — and sometimes on the frontlines — these officers are tasked with protecting our oceans, upholding the law, and ensuring the seafood we eat is harvested responsibly.

NUPE represents Fisheries Officers and celebrates the important and sometimes high risk work they do.

What Does an MPI Fisheries Officer Do?

Fisheries Officers are regulatory enforcement officers whose role includes:

• Monitoring commercial, recreational, and customary fishing to ensure it complies with the rules of the Quota Management System (QMS).

• Conducting inspections of vessels, fishers, fish retailers, and processors.

• Investigating illegal fishing activity, such as poaching, black-market sales, and fishing in protected areas.

• Working with iwi, hapū, and communities to promote sustainable fishing and protect customary fishing rights.

• Educating the public on fishing rules, seasonal closures, and legal limits.

Their work supports the long-term health of New Zealand’s fisheries, which contribute billions of dollars to the economy and provide vital food resources both locally and globally.

Safety Concerns on the Frontlines

While the role of a Fisheries Officer may sound like a mix of marine biology, compliance, and community outreach — it also carries significant risks. Fisheries Officers often find themselves working in remote, isolated environments, interacting with members of the public under stressful, and sometimes volatile, conditions.

Some key safety concerns include:

1. Aggressive or Non-Compliant Individuals

Officers may encounter individuals or groups who are angry, intoxicated, or actively trying to conceal illegal activity. Verbal abuse and physical threats are not uncommon, especially when officers interrupt potentially lucrative but illegal fishing operations.

2. Working Alone or in Remote Areas

Many officers carry out inspections in isolated coastal areas, harbours, or at sea, sometimes with limited backup. Poor cellphone reception, long response times, and rough terrain add to their vulnerability.

3. Marine and Weather-Related Hazards

Being out on boats, docks, or rocky shorelines exposes officers to slippery surfaces, large swells, and unpredictable weather conditions. The risk of falls, injuries, or getting stranded is ever-present.

4. Night Work and Surveillance Operations

Investigations can involve covert surveillance or operations during unsociable hours, increasing the risk of confrontation and reducing visibility and access to help if needed.

What’s Being Done to Protect Officers?

MPI asserts they take the safety of its staff seriously. Some measures in place include:

• Personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety training for all officers.

• Body-worn cameras and communication devices to capture incidents and request assistance.

• Protocols for working in pairs or with Police when risks are identified.

• Ongoing de-escalation and conflict management training.

  
  

Despite these, many Fisheries Officers and NUPE still feel that more could be done to acknowledge the unique dangers of their role, ensure they are adequately resourced, and give them the same recognition and protections as other frontline enforcement professionals.

Fisheries Officers are a critical part of New Zealand’s environmental and economic protection force. They uphold laws that safeguard our oceans, support our industries, and protect our food sources — often at considerable personal risk.

As we continue to rely on the ocean for food, culture, and livelihood, it’s vital we support those who stand guard over it. That means not only recognising their role but also ensuring their safety, wellbeing, and professional standing reflect the importance of the work they do.

NUPE is committed to the ongoing advocacy for Fisheries Officers. If you work in this role or apply for the role and are successful, please do contact us to join.

Shout ou to NUPE members out there, please contact us if you need support, advocacy or have any matters you need to bring to our attention.

Advocating for Family Group Conferences and thier Kaitiaki, The Family Group Conference Coordinator

Puao Te Atatū (1988) was a landmark report that laid bare the institutional racism embedded within the New Zealand child welfare system. It highlighted the disconnection between state agencies and Māori, and the urgent need to reflect Māori values, perspectives, and leadership in decision-making about the wellbeing of tamariki.

A core recommendation of the report was to empower whānau, hapū, and iwi through culturally appropriate, community-based solutions — as opposed to state-imposed interventions. This recommendation became the foundation for the Family Group Conference (FGC), a process introduced through the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989, now the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989.

FGCs were a world-first innovation that legally mandated a family- and whānau-led decision-making process in both care and protection and youth justice settings. The process was, and still is, intended to be a manifestation of tino rangatiratanga and a move towards partnership between the state and Māori as promised under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Significance of the FGC Coordinator Role (and Legal References)

The FGC Coordinator is a pivotal figure in ensuring that the FGC process functions as intended — with integrity, neutrality, and cultural safety. Their role is clearly articulated in the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, primarily in Sections 18 to 34. These provisions outline their statutory responsibilities, including:

• Convening the Conference within legislated timeframes.

• Consulting with whānau, victims, professionals, and tamariki to prepare for the conference.

• Ensuring the process is inclusive, mana-enhancing, and culturally safe.

• Facilitating the conference in a way that ensures whānau ownership of outcomes and decisions.

  
  

The Coordinator acts as both a guardian of process and a neutral facilitator, ensuring that legal obligations are met while also promoting meaningful participation by all parties — especially the whānau and tamariki at the centre of the issue.

Why the Role Must Be Protected, Strengthened, and Reinstated as a ‘Jewel in the Crown’

Despite its origins in transformative reform, the FGC Coordinator role has, over time, been eroded through:

• Organisational restructuring and lack of strategic investment.

• A diminishing understanding of the role’s independence and cultural significance.

• The potential fragmentation of practice through devolution without adequate safeguards.

  
  

This erosion threatens the very purpose of the FGC and undermines the spirit of Puao Te Atatū.

The Role Must Be:

• Protected: The Coordinator must remain independent, adequately resourced, and free from pressures that could compromise the integrity of the FGC process.

• Strengthened: Coordinators require robust training, cultural supervision, and support to carry out their roles effectively and safely.

• Reinstated as a Jewel in the Crown: Among all roles within Oranga Tamariki, the Coordinator embodies the department’s highest aspirations — partnership with Māori, empowerment of whānau, and tamariki-centred practice. This role should be celebrated, invested in, and elevated as a flagship example of what good practice looks like.

The Family Group Conference was a bold response to injustice — a tangible legacy of Puao Te Atatū and a genuine attempt to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The FGC Coordinator is the cornerstone of that process. If there is to be a restoration of faith in Oranga Tamariki and achieve equitable outcomes for tamariki Māori, it must uphold the mana of this role, protect its independence, and recognise it as a treasure — a taonga — within the department and across the child welfare system.

We continue to advocate strongly for the value and integrity of the FGC Coordinator role. This role is not only operationally important but is also of deep cultural and historical significance. We seek that Oranga Tamariki acknowledge and understand that they already have the mechanism and tool and people to achieve success in the difficult and complex work in front of them. They have the FGC process and the FGC Coordinators.

We acknowledge our members that work tirelessly in this space and those that pioneered the role that have passed.

Mathew Glanville

Advisor and Advocate

NUPE - National Union of Public Employees

Submission form: Keep Living Wage Protections for Government Cleaners, Security Guards and Catering Staff

E tū is leading this campaign to retain the Living Wage and NUPE is right in there to support this. If you have a moment, we encourage you to follow the link and make a submission. Add your voice to advocate for those being paid low wages.

Soliadarity and unity all the way.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is seeking public feedback on a new edition of the Government Procurement Rules.

All Government agencies must follow the Government Procurement Rules when managing contracted for goods and services, like cleaning, security and catering. 

The requirement to pay a Living Wage to cleaners, security guards and catering staff has been removed.

History tells us without Living Wage requirements in procurement contracts, contracted workers face a life on poverty wages.

If you want the Government to keep the Living Wage requirement, make a submission to MBIE using the form here Keep Living Wage Protections for Government Cleaners, Security Guards and Catering Staff