illegal fishing

The public broadcaster said the blue fishing boats, each with more than a dozen sailors on board, were caught off Belep in the very north.

It said maritime police impaired the boats' ability to fish for several weeks.

The catch has been seized and will be sold to the public.

Unlike in other countries, the law in New Caledonia doesn't allow for the destruction of poachers' boats.

The authorities hope their operations will succeed in curbing illegal fishing.

Photo: Copyright: aquafun / 123RF Stock Photo

Over the past few years blue boats have been found in Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and as far south as Australia and New Caledonia.
 
The director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency James Movick says these vessels, most of which come from Vietnam, are difficult to catch.
 

Tabloid Jubi reports Royke Lumowa as saying illegal fishing should continue to be a concern for both central and local governments, suggesting that inaction would allow the problem to become rampant.

He said that because the remoteness of West Papua, as well as lack of resources for police to monitor the waters, a lot of illegal fishing went unchecked.

Mr Royke said that to counter illegal fishing, local police needed the help of the Navy, the Marine Department and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, especially in terms of equipment.

The changes, it explained, are in line with the resolutions of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), of which Mexico is a party.

This measure also applies to boats from the Mexican flagged purse seine fleet fishing for these species in the high seas and in foreign jurisdictional waters that are in the IATTC regulated area.

A precursor to an import ban, the ‘yellow card’ issued by the European Union to Taiwan for failing to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, comes after Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior busted a pirate Taiwanese tuna vessel off Papua New Guinea waters three weeks ago in an example of the lack of control over Taiwanese fishing vessels.

“We are still tracking the Shuen De Ching No.888 and we have supplied all our information to the nations where the ship might pull into their ports, including Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Fiji.

“We think it is vital for Pacific nations to investigate this ship to show that illegal fishing will not be tolerated, particularly as the region tries to develop a sustainable fisheries industry,” said Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Global Tuna campaigner from aboard Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.