The Fisheries (Electronic Monitoring on Vessels) Regulations 2017 (the principal regulations) came into force on 1 October 2018. Those regulations provide for the electronic monitoring of vessels used to fish under permits issued under section 91 or 113H of the Fisheries Act 1996. When a vessel is on a fishing trip under one of those permits,—

• the fishing and fish taken must be filmed; and

• the transportation of fish on the vessel (whether taken under the permit or not) must be filmed; and

• associated information must be recorded.

The dates on which the principal regulations start to apply to vessels are staggered (see clause 1 of Schedule 1 of the principal regulations). The principal regulations applied to the first categories of vessels on and from 1 October 2018. However, the chief executive of the Ministry for Primary Industries exempted those vessels from the requirements of Part 1 of the principal regulations from 1 October 2018 to 31 January 2019 by issuing—

• the Exemption from compliance with Part 1 of the Fisheries (Electronic Monitoring on Vessels) Regulations 2017 on 1 October 2018; and

• the Exemption from compliance with Part 1 of the Fisheries (Electronic Monitoring on Vessels) Regulations 2017 on 24 October 2018 (see https://www.fisheries.govt.nz/protection-and-response/sustainable-fisheries/strengthening-fisheries-management/fisheries-change-programme/digital-monitoring-resources/#exemptions).

These regulations come into force on 31 January 2019 and amend the principal regulations as follows:

• new clause 1(1AAA) of Schedule 1 is inserted with the effect that the principal regulations will cease to apply to the first categories of vessels after 31 January 2019:

• clause 1(1) of Schedule 1 is amended by changing the dates on which the principal regulations apply to the first 3 categories of vessels from 1 October 2018, 1 February 2019, and 1 July 2019 to, in each case, 1 August 2019:

• the example in clause 1(2) of Schedule 1 is removed because it outlines a scenario that no longer applies.