Women first trawler observers

Press, 16 April 1986, Page 3

Women first trawler observers

Two women who are the first New Zealand observers placed on foreign fishing vessels left Lyttelton yesterday on the Soviet trawler Nikolaevskiy Korabel. Misses Janice Denney and Anne Walker will spend five to seven weeks on board, monitoring what is caught and collecting scientific data, fish specimens and samples. They are the first of a

group of 10 observers under contract to the Ministry of Fisheries, who were selected from 120 applicants and trained in shipboard etiquette, identification of vessels and fish species, sampling, and recording methods. Both women hold bachelor of science degrees. Miss Denney has had 18 months experience in the United States observer programme. “We are both conserva-tion-orientated and believe we will be doing something that will have a long-term effect on the sea environment and declining catches in the fishing industry,” Miss Walker said. The women suffer from “pretty bad” sea sickness. They recognise the job will demand flexibility

and willingness to fit in with the crew. “You must be mature, have a sense of humour and put up with cold, wet conditions, long hours, and fish guts,” Miss Denney said.

“We are the guinea pigs and the role the programme takes in the future depends on our professionalism and accuracy this trip.”

The observers’ task is to ensure vessels do not catch more than their quota of allocated species, and to collect biological information on fish stocks and marine animals.

They will make independent estimates of catches and check that they have been recorded accurately. They will report any discrepancies but

have no enforcement powers. The number of seals, dolphins and other protected species which fall prey to the trawl nets, will be noted and checks kept that by-catches of nontarget species are reported accurately. By-catches of offshore trawlers are thought to be the cause of dwindling inshore catches of ling, rig, and hake.

The observer scheme was announced in June last year by the Minister of Fisheries, Mr Moyle, because foreign vessels were suspected of widespread misreporting of catches and dumping of unwanted species. The scheme will put two observers on every domestic, chartered, and foreign trawler more than

40m long by 1988. About 40 such trawlers work within New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.

The observers are paid $132 a day for a maximum of six 45-day trips a year.

On Russian and Japanese vessels they will eat the food provided, and get a $lO-a-day allowance for supplementary food. On Taiwanese and Korean trawlers, observers will take their own food.

The trawlers have to pay the observers’ salary food, and travel expenses and provide a minimum standard of food and accommodation. The observers will maintain twice weekly radio contact with the scheme’s co-ordinators in Wellington.