WELLINGTON, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand navy has found 36 breaches of fisheries rules around small island nations since the beginning of June as part of the effort to stop illegal fishing in the southwest Pacific, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Thursday.
Fisheries patrols conducted by the NZDF with New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Pacific Islands countries had seen 34 commercial fishing vessels boarded during the inspections, said a statement from the NZDF and MPI.
The boarding teams, comprising crew from the New Zealand offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago and compliance officers from MPI and Pacific island countries, boarded the vessels during patrols in the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Fiji, Niue, Tokelau and Tuvalu.
The breaches included unmarked fishing gear, licensing issues and the discarding of rubbish, and would be fully investigated by each Pacific island country and supported by New Zealand if requested, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Sorensen, of HMNZS Otago.
"The operation is significant in terms of raising compliance levels within the Pacific region and also for the direct support that the Pacific nations receive," MPI chief operations officer Andrew Coleman said in the statement.
"Although the number of breaches detected was disappointingly high, it showed the importance of 'at sea' boarding and inspection as a tool for raising compliance levels and of implementing measures that ultimately support the effective management of Pacific tuna fisheries."
HMNZS Otago left New Zealand on June 5 to conduct fisheries patrols in the southwest Pacific over two months.
New Zealand offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington is to sail to the south Pacific on July 18 to conduct further fisheries patrols.
The navy has been checking that fishing boats are monitoring fishing activity and complying with the rules, and then reporting back to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency.
Overfishing of tuna is a major problem in the southwest Pacific, where small island nations lack the resources to properly patrol their vast territorial waters.
