Nelson fishing company Westfleet Fishing and the skipper and mate of Tasman Viking have been fined close to $70,000 for failing to assess and report coral caught while fishing on the high seas in the South Pacific.
They faced charges under the Fisheries Act and Fisheries Regulations for failing to comply with the conditions of a high seas fishing permit and failing to report multiple instances of coral or sponge caught in the net.
In October 2020 Tasman Viking sailed from Nelson to trawl outside New Zealand’s EEZ in the Challenger Plateau and Lord Howe Rise. Fisheries New Zealand observers were also on board. The vessel was fishing under a high seas permit issued by international agreement through the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).
‘All commercial fishers are required to hold a permit to fish the SPRFMO fishing area, and reporting organisms from the sea floor such as coral and sponges caught is an important requirement. The rules are agreed by the countries of the South Pacific and are there for a reason – to protect the ocean environment and prevent fishing from causing damage to vulnerable marine ecosystems on the seafloor,’ said Fisheries New Zealand Regional Manager of Fisheries Compliance, Howard Reid.
‘If the amount of bycatch from the sea floor reaches specified limits, fishing must immediately stop in that area.’
When Tasman Viking hauled its gear on 21st October 2020, it contained a substantial amount of bamboo coral which was not removed from the net, separated, and weighed by the crew as required by their high seas permit. When the net was reshot about fifteen minutes later, most of the coral was swept overboard. The Fisheries New Zealand Observer weighed the small quantity that remained at 2.79kg.
‘The threshold limit for bamboo coral is 15kg but due to the failure of the crew to remove and weigh all the coral, it was not possible to determine whether that limit had been exceeded and the skipper did not report the incident to MPI or SPRFMO through the normal channels, which is disappointing,’ Howard Reid said.
Main image: Westfleet Seafoods
