Seafood Industry proactively mitigating seabird by-catch

Press release by NZ Seafood Industry Council, 16 December 2005

It is absolute nonsense to suggest that the industry is procrastinating over measures to stop seabird by-catch said Chief Executive of the NZ Seafood Industry Council Owen Symmans in response to a Green Party comment today.

"All the seabird by-catch mitigation devices have been developed by fishermen in New Zealand who are passionately committed to reducing seabird mortality. The industry has been proactive in developing and implementing them for many years. More than 10 years of active promotion of seabird bycatch mitigation is not what I call procrastination," said Mr Symmans.

The industry has very definitely taken a leadership role, but the real issue is the application of equivalent measures by others fishing in the rest of the Southern Hemisphere, Mr Symmans says.

"We are about to embark on the summer toothfish fishing season and all long line operators need to be doing what New Zealand vessel operators in the southern oceans are doing. All New Zealand toothfish vessels will meet the criteria that the Green Party is calling for, but the same will not apply to all others, especially not to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing vessels."

The Green Party release was incorrect. They stated the only change made so far is the requirement for the domestic tuna fishery to use tori lines.

"The requirement for twin tori lines for trawl vessels over 28m has changed recently, not tuna vessels where tori lines have been mandatory for more than a decade," Mr Symmans said.

NZ Seafood Industry supports Department of Labour

Press release by NZ Seafood Industry Council, 16 December 2005

The New Zealand seafood industry does not condone ship jumping or any infringements of our laws, said Chief Executive of the NZ Seafood Industry Council Owen Symmans.

"We have been working closely with the Department of Labour for 12 months to agree systems and processes to manage the issues around employment of foreign crews. We have made considerable progress including the agreement on a code of practice for the employment of foreign crew. We are confident that other issues related to the AIP will be agreed in the New Year.

"We're keen to provide certainty for the industry and to ensure that the requirements of New Zealand law are met," said Mr Symmans.