Japanese Found Inside Limit

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 1

Japanese Found Inside Limit

(Neto Zealand Press association' AUCKLAND, September 29. A Japanese mother ship and a fishing dory were found half a mile inside New Zealand territorial waters and ordered to sea by the Navy protection launch Maroro tonight.

It was the first time that Navy or Marine I)e--partment fisheries launches had caught Japanese fishermen inside territorial waters although they have been previously photographed by R.N.Z.A.F. aircraft. The dory was intercepted at dusk two miles and a half off the Northland coast, 10 miles north of Bream head. According to signals received in Auckland the mother ship, also inside the territorial waters, approached the two boats. The Maroro then escorted them both to five miles off the coast before returning to Whangarei. The Maroro under the command of the senior officer of the Fishery Protection Squadron, Lieutenant-Com-mander D. 11. Davies, closed in at dusk. The incident is after a warning this month by the Japenese Fisheries Agency to Japanese trawler owners that licences would be suspended and offenders ordered home if New Zealand waters were violated.

The 377-ton No. 3 Fukuhisa Maru, which violated New Zealand waters in the Bay of Plenty this month, has already been sent home. One of the five Devonportbased protection launches, the Maroro has been commissioned only a month. It was formerly a pas-senger-carrying launch used when the naval training establishment was on Motuihe Island. The Minister of Marine (Mr Scott) said in Wellington tonight he was unable to confirm the report of the interception. i He was calling for a full

report tomorrow and further action would depend on this report, he said. Mr Scott said the Japanese vessel had been under observation for the last three days.