MPI appoints QC to look into its own fishing investigations

Thursday 19th May 2016

A Queen's Counsel has been appointed by the Ministry for Primary Industries to carry out an independent investigation into two operations in 2012 and 2013 around the potentially illegal discarding of fish by fishing vessels based in the South Island.

Mediaworks on Wednesday reported that MPI had carried out two operations, Operation Achilles and Operation Hippocamp.

The report on Operation Achilles was written by an MPI investigator and followed a trial of CCTV cameras on boats. It found 80 percent of the vessels "openly discarded substantial quantities of quota fish" without reporting it. The report said between 20 percent and 100 percent of some quota fish were discarded every time a net was pulled up. The document was never released publicly.

Mediaworks said investigators working on Operation Hippocamp inspected seven vessels and found "between one-third to two-thirds of Gurnard may be dumped by inshore trawlers"

In a statement, MPI director-general Martyn Dunne said he had "initiated an independent review into circumstances surrounding Operation Achilles, including the decision not to prosecute individuals associated with the potentially illegal discarding". The review will also look at Operation Hippocamp. It will be made public, and its terms of reference and the name of the reviewer will be released when finalised.

Prime Minister John Key earlier this week played down a report which suggested the number of fish caught in New Zealand waters had been under-reported for decades, with the true catch almost three times official figures. Speaking at his weekly media conference on May 16, he said that "we think the probability of the numbers being as high as what they have in the report seem a bit odd to us and a bit out of whack".

He added that the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research believed the discard rate was nearer to 6 percent.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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