Search

New Zealand today ratified a new Convention to manage fisheries in the South Pacific, says Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley.

Under the Convention, a new South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) will administer an area of ocean from Western Australia to the waters off South America, covering the entire Tasman Sea and South Pacific Ocean.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Murray McCully says two North Korean fishing vessels have been intercepted by a RNZAF P3 Orion carrying out surveillance against illegal fishing in the Ross Sea.

In February the Xiong Nu Baru 33 and Sima Qian Baru 22 were detected fishing to the east of the Ross Sea within the area managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The Xiong Nu Baru 33 was using deep-sea gillnets, which are banned in the CCAMLR Convention Area.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully and Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Phil Heatley today welcomed 18 Pacific trainees to New Zealand to take part in a programme aimed at giving them the skills and knowledge to develop sustainable and profitable fishing operations in the Pacific.

"New Zealand is providing $500,000 in funding for the Pacific Fisheries Extension Officer course, which forms part of a wider package of support for Pacific fisheries.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley today met with Fisheries Ministers and officials from Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu to discuss for

New Zealand today became the first country to sign a new convention to manage non-highly migratory fisheries in the high seas of the South Pacific.

An illegal fishing vessel, Carmela, was intercepted by a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3K Orion in the Ross Sea during a routine fisheries patrol on Wednesday 16 December.