Fisheries observers removed over health and safety fears

Thursday, 10 November 2022

Māui dolphin and the New Zealand sea lion are on a countdown to extinction – so why do politicians drag their feet?

A collision between a container ship and a fishing boat has seen officials order observers off some inshore commercial fishing vessels.

Fisheries New Zealand has refused to place staff on smaller boats that do not operate continuous watchkeeping shifts – but it won’t say how many vessels are affected, or for how long.

The watchdogs travel aboard fishing fleets, tracking their catches including any accidental catch of species, such as endangered seabirds and dolphins.

They make sure crews are following the rules and not dumping unwanted fish overboard, and monitor labour conditions.

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The role as the ‘eyes and ears’ of fisheries management is vital to protect oceans and preserve fish stocks – and marine conservationists are dispirited by the move. The ban also means New Zealand won’t meet its international obligations for monitoring tuna fishing.

In July 2021, the Commission collided with the 266-metre-long container vessel Kota Lembah, which was drifting awaiting port berth at Auckland.

No-one was hurt in the crash, which happened at about 4am and 84 nautical miles from Tauranga. A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report, published in April, noted watchkeeping standards on both vessels “fell well short of good industry practice.”

There was no-one on watch on the Commission (the boat) at the time of the collision. Skipper Mike Te Pou was fined $1625 in Tauranga District Court earlier this month.

Fisheries observers travel aboard fishing fleets, tracking their catches including any accidental catch of species, such as endangered seabirds and dolphins (file photo).

But an observer was on board. Worried FNZ officials stopped deploying observers to “a small number” of vessels who don’t keep watch while drifting.

They also sought clarification from Maritime NZ and in October the regulatory body said that under existing rules there should be a watchkeep on vessels at all times, including while anchored.

But FNZ has no powers to enforce the safety rules onboard ships and therefore is not sending observers back onboard all ships. “[The] clarification affected a larger number of vessels,” Justin Clement, acting director of verifications and operations, said. “In line with this we expanded our approach, and stopped placing observers on vessels that did not meet watchkeep requirements while anchored.”

He said most of the reduction “would likely” be on smaller vessels that do multi-day trips.

A fisheries observer inspects sea lion exclusion devices – used to stop accidental sea lion deaths in trawling nets.

The agency also introduced new checks and sough assurances about compliance before placing observers, he said. The safety of staff was paramount, Clement said.

“Fisheries New Zealand is actively talking with individual vessel operators to find ways for them to meet watch requirements and get to sea safely with observers onboard…We have managed operational disruptions to our observer coverage in the past, including through Covid which had a similar effect on overall coverage in 2021/22.”

Clement also said his agency was working with MNZ “to ensure fishing operators are complying with all legal requirements around safety and carrying observers.”

In February, Stuff revealed m ethamphetamine abuse aboard the commercial fleet was preventing officials from placing observers on high-risk vessels.

Eugenie Sage, the Greens spokesperson for fisheries, conservation and the environment, said vessels that can’t meet safety requirements shouldn’t be at see.

But the ban – which will reduce observer sea days by about 20% across all fisheries – has disappointed marine conservationists.

Observer coverage is already consistently low – frequently less than 5% of annual fishing effort – in small-vessel fisheries.

And a nationwide roll-out of cameras on commercial fishing boats is yet to start, and won’t be complete until the end of next year.

As a member state of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, New Zealand committed to 10 percent observer coverage of domestics vessels operating in the bluefin tuna fishery. That fleet is largely based out of Napier and Tauranga, working the East Coast between Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty.

“Due to these operational issues, the target is not expected to be met this year,” Clement said.

Green Party fisheries spokesperson Eugenie Sage said that vessels which can’t meet watchkeeping requirements shouldn’t be put to sea.

If the requirements are not enforced by MNZ then FNZ should reduce catch entitlements “to provide an incentive for those vessels and fishing companies to operate safely so that observers can be on board,” Sage added.

Barry Weeber, of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, said the number of seabirds caught and killed by the longline fleet of just over 300 vessels – is a longstanding problem.

The practice uses a long main line with baited hooks attached at intervals, and can be set to hang near the surface, to catch species like tuna, or along the sea floor, known as bottom or demersal longlining.

Birds are attracted to the hooked and discarded bait and offal and dive down, get hooked and drown. Surface longlining is also associated with relatively high catches of blue, porbeagle and mako sharks.

“New Zealand is trying hard internationally to protect our seabirds on the high seas by getting good measures in international agreements, and in working with Chile and Peru and others to get measures in place.

“But if we don’t sort out the problem ourselves, then we are on a hiding to nowhere, because other countries will look at New Zealand’s track record.”