Foreign squid fleets

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33435, 17 January 1974, Page 1

Foreign squid fleets

(From Our Own Reporter) WESTPORT, January 16. The tell-tale glow of lights from dozens of Japanese and other foreign trawlers catching squid off the West Coast was clearly visible from Denniston last night. A faint glow on the horizon was visible from about 1000 ft, but at 1800 ft the lights gave an impression of a city in the distance.

About 25 trawlers were identified immediately west of Westport, but a large glow to the north indicated another fleet working the coast between the Mokihinui River and Karamea. The Japanese, and others, believed to be Koreans, came much closer to land when they worked the squid fields last year, although the harbourmaster at Westport (Captain R. Gower) said that radar plots put them just outside the 12-mile limit. They were kept under regular "surveillance by R.N.Z.IA.F. Orions. This year, how-

ever, the foreigners are working well outside the prescribed limits. Squid, which New Zealanders catch for bait, is processed and sold as a delicacy by the Japanese. West Coast waters will be busy this year. Besides the Japanese, New Zealand fishermen are coming south in greater numbers in search of tuna, for which there is a good market overseas. About 60 trawlers are reported to be working out of Greymouth, where large cold storage facilities are under construction.