The Tasman Viking trawler, operated by Westfleet Fishing, pulled up 37kg of coral while bottom trawling in the Lord Howe Rise. Video / Mike Scott / Michael Morrah
New Zealand has proposed catching Australia’s uncaught orange roughy quota in the South Pacific, alarming environmentalists.
Shane Jones says if New Zealand doesn’t catch Australia’s quota it won’t be available to anyone.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has told the Herald officials are also exploring options to increase how much coral trawl vessels can gather in the high seas.
New Zealand has made a controversial request at an international fishing meeting in Chile after proposing to catch Australia’s uncaught orange roughy quota in the South Pacific using bottom-trawling fishing vessels, a move that’s appalled environmentalists.
The Herald has also confirmed Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) fisheries officials are “exploring”options to increase the amount of deep-sea coral that can be hauled up by trawl vessels working in the area.
Currently, if coral exceeding 15kg is pulled up in a trawl net, the catch triggers an automatic suspension of fishing in the area under international regulations – a rule Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has previously criticised as “severe”.
On laying claim to Australia’s orange roughy, Jones told the Herald if New Zealand gets its way, it will “bolster” the durability and footprint of the local industry.
Australia has permits to bottom trawl for orange roughy in the South Pacific but it stopped all high seas bottom trawling years ago. New Zealand is the only country still bottom trawling there.
Jones said he didn’t agree with the “psychic upside” of leaving fish in the ocean because it made people feel good.
“For a hunter and gatherer like the Matua, it’s not a view that I share.”
Orange roughy is a slow-growing species that was almost fished to the point of collapse in the 1980s.
Representatives from 17 countries who are part of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) are currently meeting in Santiago to thrash out international high-seas fishing policy.
New Zealand added a new amendment to a proposal ahead of the meeting, seeking permission to catch Australia’s orange roughy – a highly sought-after, slow-growing fish that congregates on underwater mountains known as seamounts.
The species is bulk harvested using bottom-trawling nets – a fishing method that can cause irreversible damage to fragile corals that live on seamounts and provide a habitat for thousands of often rare invertebrates and fish.
Australia, with most other SPRFMO nations, has advocated for greater protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific.
New Zealand has become an outlier in terms of its push for bottom trawling to continue.
The divisional manager of MPI’s sustainable trade and environment Charlotte Denny told the Herald that New Zealand wants Australia’s quota because it’s currently not being caught.
“The purpose of adding this amendment is to support the economic viability of the orange roughy fishery and is within agreed sustainable catch limits set by the SPRFMO Commission and Scientific Committee,” she said.
She did not say how Australia would benefit from such an arrangement but said this would be discussed with her counterparts at the meeting.
The Herald has sought comment on the proposal from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority but is yet to receive a response.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is backing moves by New Zealand to be allowed to claim Australia's high seas orange roughy catch saying he's "pro-harvest".
Jones said he had “no idea what the Aussies might be asking for” in return but noted it would not happen without mutual agreement.
“If we don’t catch it, it won’t be available to the market. Do you want the fish harvested or not? As you know, I’m pro-harvest,” he told the Herald.
Karli Thomas from the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition is at the meeting and told the Herald she hopes the new amendment is thrown out.
“The last two years have seen really worrying population estimates for orange roughy in NZ waters. Now NZ wants to catch more orange roughy on the high seas by getting hold of Australia’s allocation, which hasn’t been fished for around five years,” she said.
‘Doubling down on destructive fishing’
Karli Thomas is from the environmental advocacy group the Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition and is in Santiago for the SPRFMO meeting. Photo / DSCC
At the time, Jones dismissed the incident as insignificant.
“It’s a 37kg bunch of coral, I wouldn’t fuss about it too much. We can’t pretend that coral is more important than GDP,” he told the Herald in November.
He also indicated he wanted the 15kg limit on catching coral reviewed saying such a small amount should not lead to bans on fishing.
MPI’s Denny is seeking to increase international thresholds.
“The New Zealand delegation at SPRFMO is exploring this, as well as a wide range of other options, with the aim of achieving sustainable management while ensuring the economic viability of New Zealand’s fisheries in the South Pacific Ocean,” she said.
Thomas was scathing of the move, saying all nations – New Zealand included – committed at the United Nations to prevent damage and destruction of corals, seamounts and other vulnerable ecosystems.
“Increasing the amount of coral that can be destroyed by NZ trawlers would be doing the exact opposite of that and is unlikely to go down well with countries that are trying to do the right thing,” she said.
She believed New Zealand was on the “wrong side of history” when it came to bottom trawling in the South Pacific.
“The Government has ignored its own science, blocked international progress and made counter proposals that would lead to even more coral destruction.”
Jones said the “browbeating” of Government officials by various NGOs should not dictate foreign policy priorities in terms of international fishing policy.
Organisation ‘doesn’t suit NZ’s interests’
New Zealand has proposed amendments to fishing policy at the 13th meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation in Chile.
Jones also launched a stinging attack on SPRFMO – claiming the organisation had damaged New Zealand’s fishing interests and he would campaign at the next election to leave the group.
“SPRFMO has proved to be a vehicle that has successfully closed down the New Zealand fishing industry, by and large, in the Tasman Pacific,” he told the Herald.
He said the next election campaign would look at whether New Zealand’s sovereign interests are best served by being attached to such international groups.
He felt New Zealand’s fishing interests were being turned into an “empty husk” and the country needed to evaluate if it had the right balance as a member of SPRFMO and other international groups.
The 13th meeting of SPRFMO in Santiago is running until February 21, with decisions on some of the proposed amendments – including those New Zealand has put forward – expected by next week.
Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’svideo team in July 2024.
