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

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