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New Zealand navy to board illegal fishing boats in Southern Ocean: FM

Xinhua, January 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

A New Zealand navy ship has caught two vessels claiming to be flagged to Equatorial Guinea fishing illegally in the Southern Ocean and is seeking permission from the African state to board the vessels, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Monday.

HMNZS Wellington had gathered valuable evidence of the vessels' activities, including photographic and video footage of illegal fishing, which would contribute to any legal action taken against the owners and benefactors of the illegal fishing activities, McCully said in a statement.

"New Zealand is in touch with Equatorial Guinea and is asking permission to board the vessels, if their flag status is verified, " he said.

The New Zealand authorities had requested Interpol to issue a purple notice for each vessel, which would put alerts out on the vessels and their owners among 190 Interpol member countries.

"We are also working with ports to ensure these vessels cannot offload their illegal catch or profit from their criminal activity, " said McCully.

"The vessels are well-known, repeat offenders and their ownership has in the past been linked to Spanish interests. We have alerted the Spanish government to what we have discovered," McCully added.

Fishing in the Southern Ocean was regulated by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and New Zealand conducted regular patrols there targeting illegal fishing operations.

New Zealand was committed to working with international partners to take every possible action to deter illegal fishing and prosecute those responsible, McCully said. Endi