Hon Jim Anderton
Minister of Fisheries
Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs
25th September 2006
NZ welcomes Australian stance on bottom trawling
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton said the government welcomed Australia’s position on
bottom trawling in international waters.
“Australia’s recently-announced position is very closely aligned to New Zealand’s stance on bottom trawling,” Mr Peters
said. “We look forward to working closely with our Australian counterparts to progress this issue internationally over
the coming months. We will be seeking the support of other nations at regional meetings and at the United Nations
General Assembly next month.”
Australia and New Zealand both advocate an immediate moratorium on bottom trawling in high seas outside areas where
competent Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) exist or are under negotiation.
“The UN General Assembly has already made it clear that establishing controls on the adverse impacts of bottom trawling
are urgently needed, and we must accelerate efforts to get them in place,” Mr Peters said
Mr Anderton said New Zealand already had a very good system of management within its own EEZ that ensured fisheries
would remain sustainable and that environmental issues were addressed.
However, effective management in international waters could best be delivered through international agreements
negotiated through RFMOs or through the United Nations, he said.
“Since 2004, New Zealand has been prepared to support, in principle, the concept of an interim global moratorium on
bottom trawling on the high seas, if such a proposal had sufficient global support to be practical and enforceable,” Jim
Anderton said.
ENDS