New Zealand urges Spain to act on illegal fishing boat

New Zealand has urged Spain to take action against the owners of a boat seen fishing illegally in Antarctic waters, Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Friday. He said the Spanish-owned Bigaro, which has been blacklisted under an international treaty aimed at protecting resources in the Antarctic, was photographed Tuesday by a Royal New Zealand Air Force plane on a maritime surveillance patrol in the Southern Ocean.

The Bigaro was fishing inside the management area of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which has blacklisted the ship for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Antarctic, McCully said.

"Spain is a CCAMLR member and is obliged to take action against the Spanish company and any individuals involved with the Bigaro who are on the CCAMLR blacklist," McCully said.

The Bigaro, which flies the flag of Togo but whose owners are based in Spain, was apparently fishing for the rare toothfish, which is prized by illegal fishing fleets that trawl in Antarctic waters.

"Illegal toothfish fishing in the Southern Ocean is a scourge, destroying fish stocks and killing thousands of seabirds, including albatrosses," McCully said. "Governments cannot turn a blind eye to this."

He said the commission blacklisted another Spanish boat identified by New Zealand last month and, following diplomatic action, Sierra Leone removed its flag from a Spanish-owned boat caught by a patrol in January.

New Zealand currently chairs the commission.

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WorldFishingToday d. 20-12-2008