Sanford Limited, a New Zealand fishing company, has welcomed news that 330 tons of toothfish have been confiscated from a Nigerian-registered vessel detained in Malaysia. The seizure, said to be worth around NZ $8.6 million, is reportedly the biggest made by local authorities this year.
Auckland-headquartered Sanford is one of only two New Zealand companies permitted to source toothfish from the Ross Sea fishery, situated approximately 4,000 kilometers south of New Zealand. Other countries with vessels authorized to catch toothfish using longlines include: Australia, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Greg Johansson, Sanford’s chief operations officer, underscored that the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) fisheries are carefully managed for a reason, and illegal fishing of toothfish is a threat to conservation efforts.
Sanford Chief Operations Officer Greg Johansson says Malaysian officials should be congratulated for their work in detaining the Perlon.“Malaysian officials should be congratulated for their work,” said Johansson. “This is an excellent example of the concerted effort that is needed to stomp out the last few remaining IUU, or illegal, unreported or unregulated vessels operating in Antarctic waters. We need more work like this to stop the landing and selling of illegally caught fish irrespective of the species, and the reflagging of pirate vessels almost at will.”
Malaysian authorities say the vessel detained in this case, the Perlon, had changed its name and flag several times before the seizure.
Sanford vessels operating in Antarctic waters are constantly on the look out for evidence of pirate vessel activity and are grateful for the help of the Royal New Zealand Navy and vessels like those from Sea Shepherd (an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization), in trying to track the illegal fishing.
“It is part of the CCAMLR license agreement for the Ross Sea that Sanford vessels will monitor and report any illegal activity they come across. But it takes a collective international effort by all port and flag states to drive these pirate vessels out of business,” said Johansson.
