HISTORICAL FISHING RIGHTS “DANGER”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 6

HISTORICAL FISHING RIGHTS “DANGER”

(New Zealand Press Association)

TAURANGA, Dec. 21

The New Zealand fishing industry’s most urgent need was the immediate extension of its territorial waters to protect its continental shelf being fished by other nations, Mr Phillip Hamilton, a 22-year-old Tauranga Rotary Youth exchange student, said today on his return after spending 15 months studying the fishing industry in Norway.

The limits must be extended before other countries, such as Japan, were in the position to claim historical fishing rights in New Zealand waters.

“Whether the industry really starts to develop now or in 10 years, we must protect its future by keeping

other nations off our main trawling grounds,” he said. Many European countries had historical fishing rights to waters surrounding other European countries, including Norway. “I once counted 23 trawlers working round a Norwegian vessel I was on, within Norway’s territorial limits. Only five were Norwegian trawlers.”

The others were from Russia, Britain, East Germany, Poland and Belgium, all of whom had historical fishing rights to Norwegian waters. The other countries were taking a tremendous amount of Norwegian fish. But Norway, too. had historical rights to fish within the territorial waters of other European countries.