New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully has put three illegal fishing vessels operating in the Southern Ocean on notice and vowed to take action against their owners.
“All three vessels claim to be flagged to Equatorial Guinea and we continue to convey to Equatorial Guinea our concerns about these vessels’ operations and request permission to board the vessels,” said Mr McCully.
"While these three vessels claim not to be in anyway linked, the Yongding has been observed operating alongside both the Kunlun and the Songhua. This strongly suggests they are part the same illegal fishing syndicate. In the past, two of these vessels have been linked to the Spanish-based syndicate, Vidal Armadores S.A.”
New Zealand has requested that Interpol issue a Purple Notice for each vessel, which would put alerts out on the vessels and their owners amongst 190 Interpol member countries. Mr McCully says that he is also working with ports to ensure these vessels cannot offload their illegal catch or profit from their criminal activity.
NZ navy vessel HMNZS Wellington is continuing to record their activities and gather evidence to assist with future action against the owners.
"New Zealand is committed to doing its part to protect the Southern Ocean and we will continue to work with international partners to take every possible action to deter illegal fishing and prosecute those responsible,” Mr McCully said.
