Fishing venture awaits Govt

Press, 17 November 1980, Page 30

Fishing venture awaits Govt

PA Wellington A decision on the future of the West German-New Zealand joint fishing venture has been put off pending Government fishing policy moves. 1 '. <■; - ■■

The joint-venture company says it needs to know the Government’s policy on fisheries allocation,before it can decide the, future of the factory ship Wesermunde. A week-long meeting of the board of High Seas Fisheries (N.Z.), Ltd, ended s’esterday without a decision on the Wesermunde. which is now in Germany for maintenance work.

Mr Deiter Koch, the repre- ' sentatiye of the German Icomp a n y , Hanseatische L Hochseefischerei, was due to return to Germany at the week-end. “The Government is re--1 viewing the fisheries stock and the allocation of fisheries resources for the coming season,” said the board chairman, Mr D. Stevenson. , “Until we know what the Government policy is and how it will affect us, we cannot make any decision.” The company would have to be sure it had access to enough fish to make the venture pay, Mr Stevenson said. It had told the Minister of . Agriculture and Fisheries (Mr Maclntyre) that it would need an allocation of 15,000 to 16,000 tonnes of raw fish, including squid, orange roughie, hoki, hake and silver warehou.

“But I cannot guarantee

that the Wesermunde would - come back if those require- g ments were met. We would i have to look at costs and ' other factors on top of ,1 that,” he said. . . i The future of the joint ; venture was put in doubt’.' last month when the Weser* munde returned to Germany. Profits had " been dis-i *j appointing, and the .catch 41 during the off-season, be-‘-tween October and March,’; had been poor. •-- ■' The Wesermunde. which was in a dispute with water- *; siders. over who should un- J load it, worked in, the Chat-: ham Rise area. .