In the best tradition of gunboat diplomacy, this country is flexing its muscles in the Southern Ocean. Buoyed by the sterling endeavour of the crew of the offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington, the Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, is threatening to "throw the book" at three fishing ships illegally taking lucrative toothfish. The vessels are flagged to Equatorial Guinea, one of the lesser powerhouses of West Africa. They are, said Mr McCully, "well-known, repeat offenders". A suitable target indeed for this country to work off its frustrations about what has taken place over those icy waters in the past few years and to burnish its credentials as the holder of a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
There are, of course, good reasons for Mr McCully to be irritated. Slaps across the wrist with a wet bus ticket have, as he says, too often been the consequence for vessels responsible for blatantly illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Further, the Antarctic toothfish is a suitable subject for tight regulations and quota management. It is both predator and prey, feeding on smaller fish and a target for seals, squid and whales. The Ross Sea ecosystem would change dramatically if it disappeared.
So far, there is little evidence of that happening. A New Zealand-led survey three years ago found high densities of young toothfish. But it is a luxury dish in the United States and Asia, a fact underlined when Trade Minister Tim Groser was criticised for ordering it at a Singapore restaurant. This has made toothfish the subject of growing interest since New Zealand companies first began catching it almost 20 years ago. A dozen nations are now involved. What is generally considered to be sustainable management could quickly go awry if illegal fishing using industrial-style methods is allowed to flourish. The vessels under the watch of the Wellington are thought to be linked to a Spanish syndicate and using the flag of Equatorial Guinea, not a party to international fish-stock agreements, as a convenience.
New Zealand can also achieve other objectives in its fearless monitoring of the Songhua, the Kunlun and the Yongding. Foremost is its frustration over the failure to create large-scale marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean. This country and the US have been seeking a 1.34 million sq km reserve in the Ross Sea for many years. Their attempt to balance marine protection and sustainable fishing is not considered gold-standard by some conservationists, but at least is a sizeable step in the right direction. It has not won the support of all members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
At the commission's last meeting, in October, Russia and China blocked the creation of a Ross Sea reserve, and another in the seas off eastern Antarctica. Russia's decision owed more to tensions over Ukraine than the matter at hand, while China saw such reserves as inimical to the expansion of its fishing fleet. New Zealand is justifiably annoyed. All the more reason, therefore, to highlight illegal fishing and the pressure this places on Antarctic species.
