KEY POINTS:
A fishing company which is offering a cash reward to anyone who can track down a missing crew member is endangering the man's life, says the Maritime Union.
An advertisement in the Otago Daily Times today offered $1000 to anyone with information on the whereabouts of Kismo Pakistan, a fisherman aboard the vessel FV Oyang 70.
Mr Pakistan left the boat at the Port of Dunedin on June 5, and did not return, according to the advertisers.
Maritime Union general secretary Trevor Hanson said offering a cash bounty for a missing fisherman was extremely dangerous and "of dubious legality".
If crew members jumped ship, it was the job of the New Zealand government to find them, Mr Hanson said.
"Having a bounty would encourage criminal and unsavoury elements to get involved, endangering both the missing fisherman and anyone who happens to look like him."
Ship-jumping crew were not bad people, and were probably seeking a better life, he said.
"They may be breaking the law but they must be treated as human beings and we should remember that many people who came to New Zealand were doing exactly the same thing."
There was a widely acknowledged international problems with fishing crews being mistreated and underpaid, Mr Hanson said.
He said fishing companies in New Zealand waters should be made to employ New Zealanders on decent wages, and if overseas workers were used they should be given the same pay and conditions.
The practice of offering a bounty for ship-jumpers had been discouraged by the Government in the past but certain players were continuing to push the boundaries, Mr Hanson said.
The advertisement listed Fisheries Consultancies as a contact, and was authorised by Southern Storm Fishing -- both are Lyttelton-based companies.
Neither firm could be reached for comment today.
- NZPA
