25 July 2002 - Wellington
Fisheries Fails To Consider Potential Impacts Of Deepwater Prawn Fishery
The Ministry of Fisheries is environmentally irresponsible in allowing a deepwater prawn fishery in the Southern Ocean
without properly considering its impacts, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society says.
MinFish recently issued a two year special permit to Vela Fishing Co Ltd to trawl for deepwater prawns at depths of 600
metres covering an area the size of the South Island. The area includes the Challenger Plateau, west of New Zealand,
north Chatham Rise and a large area of the Southern Ocean around the Bounty Islands and north of the Auckland and
Campbell Islands.
"A copy of the special permit (obtained under the Official Information) shows that the Ministry of Fisheries did not
require an environmental impact assessment, has put few conditions on the permit, has not set any catch limit, nor
required scientific observers on all trips," Forest and Bird fisheries researcher, Barry Weeber says.
"Deepwater trawling is known to have substantial impacts on benthic (bottom dwelling) species. As heavy trawl nets are
dragged along the bottom they smash sedentary species on the sea bottom such as long-lived sponges and bryozoans (lace
corals)."
"The huge area over which MinFish has allowed prawn fishing increases the chances of widespread environmental damage and
impacts on marine biodiversity," he said.
"Research for the scampi fishery has shown that impacts on benthic species are generally greatest at the start of a
fishery when "new" fishing occurs in a relatively undisturbed area, as is happening here."
"The deepwater prawn fishery could also increase marine mammal and seabird deaths. Since the early 1980s, over 2,000 of
the rare New Zealand or Hooker's sea lion have drowned in squid trawl nets. The squid fishery has been closed early five
times in the last seven years to protect the sea lion.
"Around 1500 seabirds, including petrels and albatross are killed annually in New Zealand's trawl fisheries. The special
permit includes no conditions to address these issues except to exclude prawn trawling from any areas already closed to
trawling.
"The Southern Ocean is an area of exceptional biological richness. The role of prawns in the marine food web and the
species they nourish and support is poorly understood. It is premature to allow this commercial take under the guise of
research. Much stricter conditions are needed to reduce its likely impacts.
"Once again the Ministry of Fisheries is ignoring its responsibilities in the Fisheries Act to manage the impacts of
fishing on the wider marine ecosystem."
Ends
Barry Weeber
Senior Researcher
Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society
PO Box 631
Wellington
New Zealand
Phone 64-4-385-7374
Fax 64-4-385-7373
www.forest-bird.org.nz