Greenpeace Assault

Press Release by NZ Seafood Industry Council, 09 June 2005

"Greenpeace's assault on a New Zealand fishing vessel this week in the Tasman was dangerous and disgraceful. It is entirely appropriate that the Government considers what action it can take to protect New Zealanders legally going about their business wherever they are," says New Zealand Seafood Industry Council chief executive Owen Symmans.

"The facts are the fishing techniques utilized by the New Zealand industry minimises impact on the biodiversity of the ocean bottom where fishing takes place. New Zealand fishers simply do not drag heavy trawl gear across pristine sea floor as suggested. Technology allows boats to 'fly' trawl gear above the sea bottom to target the fish, with little impact on the sea floor or organisms that live on the bottom. Fishing only occurs in a very small area of ocean, which has generally been fished for many years. Much of the area cannot be fished because of the size, slope and structure of the sea floor.

"New Zealand fishing companies operate within the most effective sustainable fishing management system in the world. Indeed Greenpeace themselves identified New Zealand bottom trawlers as 'good operators'1 in a March 2005 case study.

"Clearly it is in the best interests of the fishing industry to protect the ocean habitat because that is the best way of ensuring there will be fish to catch. The New Zealand seafood industry invests heavily in research and technology to minimise the impact of bottom trawling with significant success and this investment will continue into the future," says Mr Symmans.

The claim New Zealand fish stocks are at risk is misleading, said Mr Symmans. Independent assessments contracted by the Ministry of Fisheries to instruct the Minister when making decisions about how much fish can be caught show this is not the case, he said.

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1 Greenpeace Case Studies on IUU Vessels No. 2 March 2005