Leaked Govt report shows thousands of tonnes of fish dumped, unreported
New Zealand's fishing industry has again come under fire after Greenpeace released a leaked Government report that showed thousands of tonnes of fish dumped and unreported. (File photo)
A leaked Government report has shown thousands of tonnes of fish dumped and unreported, renewing calls for an independent inquiry into New Zealand's fisheries management.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) report, released by Greenpeace on Tuesday, showed up to 2677 tonnes of southern blue whiting that was dumped by fishing companies in 2012 – up to 6 per cent of the total allowable commercial catch that year.
The figure included only waste from non-compliant head cuts, meaning too much of the fish meat was wasted when removing the head, and did not include other potential means of wastage unobtained due to insufficient data.
"Therefore, estimates of unreported greenweight [the total weight prior to processing the fish] are considered conservative for this season," the report read.
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Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman said the report was inconsistent with what MPI claimed about fishing industry practices.
"We were shocked by the report into the hoki fishery we received last week, which revealed thousands and thousands of tonnes of hoki had been made to disappear," he said.
"Now, we can see that the same thing has happened with our southern blue whiting fishery,"
Norman said the under-reporting meant "millions of dollars in savings for fishing companies [that] didn't need to purchase quota for the disappeared fish".
"The result is that no-one really knows exactly how much fish has been taken."
Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman has renewed calls for an independent inquiry into New Zealand's fisheries management.
Greenpeace criticised MPI for releasing just 11 pages of the 53-page report under the Official Information Act, as it had done with the report into similar activity in the hoki fishery.
Norman said MPI "simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth or regulate the industry".
"MPI is captured by the fishing industry. We need an independent public inquiry into the Fisheries Management System and its regulator," he said.
"Right now, MPI and the seafood industry are trying to prevent this independent inquiry and are instead pushing for an internal MPI review, but this further leaked report shows once again why that must not happen."
The MPI report mentions the southern blue whiting fishery was New Zealand's third fishery to be given Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, essentially awarding it an "eco-label" in 2012.
In a statement, Forest & Bird said it appeared the fishery had "kept its 'sustainable' certification by hiding widespread fish-dumping and misleading customers".
"Neither MPI nor the fishing industry appears to have shared this information with eco-certification body of the [MSC]."
Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has previously said scrapping the roll-out of fishing boat cameras is an option, but the leaked reports have reinforced Fish & Game's belief they "can't come soon enough".
An appendix to the MPI report noted "the already significant value of this fishery has been further enhanced by quota owners investing in the MSC certification process".
Forest & Bird chief executive Kevin Hague said the statement revealed a "conflict of interest between the industry and the MSC assessments, and the strong incentive on the fishing industry to cover up illegal activity".
In February, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash said cancelling the roll-out of cameras on fishing vessels, introduced by the previous National government, was an option.
Hague said the southern blue whiting and hoki revelations showed "cameras on boats can't come soon enough".
"Sadly, the fishing industry's worst enemy is themselves. The onus is now on them to prove that they are committed to transparency and truth-telling."
- Stuff
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