Breakdown of fish talks ‘shock’

Press, 25 February 1978, Page 1

Breakdown of fish talks ‘shock’

NZPA Tokyo I he breakdown of negotiations in Wellington to pave the way for Japan-New Zealand talks on Japanese fishing within New . Zealand’s fishery zone has come as a great shock to Japan, the Jiji News Agency reported in Tokyo yesterday. The Minister of Agriculture (Mr Ichiro Nakagawa) said it was vital for Japanese fishermen to fish inside New Zealand’s 200-mile economic zone, to be proclaimed on April 1. He told a press conference after a regular Cabinet meeting that he would work out measures in an effort to win Wellington’s understanding after reading reports of a visit to New Zealand by the former Minister of Agriculture, Mr Zenko Suzuki. Mr Nakagawa said it was necessary to solve the bilateral dispute, which centred on New Zealand’s demand for greater access to the Japanese market for its farm produce and Tokyo's need to fish inside the new zone. Japan’s fish tau! in New Zealand waters totalled 166,000 tomes in 1976. sources in Tokyo predicted large-sized squid vessels would not be immediately affected, since they are expected to

achieve their catch target by the end of March. However, New Zealand’s exclusive zone would deal a particularly severe blow to 20 or so Japanese trawlers working in the waters now that Japan’s fish catch within the United States 200-mile zone has been largely reduced this year. In a related development, the “Asahi Shimbun,” quoting Foreign Ministry sources, said yesterday that the Government might invite the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) or the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Taiboys) to Tokyo to help break the deadlock. But the Foreign Ministry refused comment on the report. The newspaper said in an editorial: “At this juncture, nothing but calmness is asked of the governments and peoples of both countries. “Arguments between fish and butter must be prevented from snowballing in an ‘eye-to-eye’ manner, affecting economic links and other bilateral relations as the whole. “We would like New Zealand people to know there is a limit to Japan’s capacity to buy (New Zealand products). We hope both sides will consult with composure with a view to future expansion.”