Announcing proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act, Mr Jones said, as a New Zealand First MP, it was his belief the footage from on-board cameras should be exempted from the Official Information Act (OIA) so it did not fall into the hands of people campaigning against the sector.
In his foreword to the consultation document released this month by the Ministry for Primary Industries, he said proposals under consideration would "enable more responsive fisheries management by leveraging increased fisheries data and enhanced verification provided by on-board cameras".
"Greater harvest would be enabled for fishers when fish stocks are abundant, and industry would have opportunities to generate more revenue from fisheries at these times.
"The targeted legislative improvements would also provide for more timely responses to changes in abundance or sustainability risks and improve efficiency.
"There are also proposals to reduce costs to fishers, address concerns about private and commercially sensitive footage from cameras on boats, and give them more options about what to do with their catch."
The consultation document said the rollout of on-board cameras on inshore vessels began in 2023 and cameras were now installed on 158 commercial fishing vessels, with two more rollouts to be completed by May.
The cameras provided independent verification of the information traditionally provided by fishers, it said.
But changes proposed included those to address concerns regarding privacy, excluding small boats where camera monitoring was impractical or unnecessary and clarifying that cameras did not need to be used when boats were at anchor, drifting or powered down.
Forest & Bird marine spokesman Geoff Keey said New Zealanders "really care" about "dolphins, albatrosses and penguins" in New Zealand waters and cameras on boats were critical to ensuring the country's fishing industry was doing "all it can to stop catching them and to catch only food".
"It's vital for public confidence in the camera programme that the footage remains subject to the Official Information Act.
"Privacy and commercial sensitivity is already protected by the Official Information Act and the Privacy Act.
"If fishers don't want the public to see footage of dead dolphins and seabirds the solution is to catch only food."
Mr Keey said for far too long, too much of the industry had been "out of sight, out of mind".
"Before cameras went on boats, fishers were much more likely to accurately report what they catch if there was an observer on board.
"Last year MPI released information showing that fishers were reporting catching dolphins and seabirds much more frequently now that many commercial boats had cameras."
University of Otago marine science Emeritus Prof Steve Dawson said he was not aware of any on-board camera footage that had been released under the OIA.
"When I submitted an OIA request to view footage gained from on-board cameras, strictly for research purposes and on a guarantee of confidentiality, the request was denied by MPI," he said.
That decision was supported by the Ombudsman.
"If MPI won’t release footage even to bona fide marine scientists, I’d have thought that advocacy groups don’t have a chance."
Fishing industry advocate Chanel Gardner said "cameras aren't controversial for our fishers [it's cost that is problematic]".
"Fishers welcome the verification role of cameras and it doesn't seem unreasonable if [the government] wants to look at privacy and data responsibilities of the Crown which I understand the document is concerned with."
