Fishermen want boat sent home

Press, 16 July 1983, Page 2

Fishermen want boat sent home

PA Wellington Fishermen have urged the Government to cancel the fishing licence of the Russian chartered trawler Dolomit, which four New Zealand researchers had to leave at sea after not getting co-operation. “We regard Russian refusal to co-operate as a serious breach of principles of the Law of the Sea agreement and request the fishing license for Dolomit be cancelled and the vessel sent home,” they said yesterday in a telegram to the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon, and the Minister of Fisheries, Mr Maclntyre. The telegram, from Mr Bob Martin, president of the Federation of Commercial Fishermen, said New Zealand domestic vessels were already working the orange roughy fishing grounds on the Challenger Plateau to the west of the country.

“Research information is urgently needed and must be done by New Zealandowned and manned vessels,” he said. The four fisheries scientists were convinced that their research project was torpedoed by the Soviet Union so it could get more of its own research into New Zealand.

They said the debacle proved the need for New Zealand to have its own deep-water research vessel. The Auckland-based fishing company Sanford, which chartered the Dolomit, had indicated that the scientists might not get final permission to use the trawler from the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries until they were at the plateau, but was confident that once they arrived the project would, proceed as planned. But that did hot happen. The dispute was a matter for Sanford’s to resolve, said the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Cooper, yesterday. “They (Sanford’s) have

been asked to fulfill certain obligations in regard to research for which they were given a quota of orange roughy,” Mr Cooper said. “The dialogue (on the contract) needs to be between Sanford’s and the Minister of Fisheries, Mr MacIntyre.” Mr Maclntyre would not comment yesterday, saying he was awaiting a report from officials. The Soviet Embassy in Wellington issued a statement regretting the “misunderstanding” which had caused the four scientists to be taken off the vessel. It offered a specially-equipped research ship to conduct the study. Labour’s spokesman on fisheries, Sir Basil Arthur, said the incident highlighted “the extraordinary mismanagement of our fisheries resources by the Government.” He said fisheries research had taken two substantial knocks within a few months. “First the industry was aghast to find that the Government had decommissioned the W. J. Scott, the inshore fisheries research vessel, which signalled the virtual end of research in the inshore fisheries. “Now we find that four fisheries research scientists have been literally taken for a ride in the deep-water fishery, with no tangible results for New Zealand,” said Sir Basil.