Tighter scrutiny of New Zealand fishing fleet amid dumping controversy

New Zealand fisheries authorities are speeding up the rollout of monitoring equipment on commercial fishing boats amid an international controversy over the illegal dumping of fish in its waters.

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy said Tuesday he had told officials to fast-track work underway on installing electronic monitoring and cameras on all fishing vessels.

"This increased monitoring will provide greater transparency of the commercial fleet's activities and improve public confidence that our fisheries are being well managed," Guy said in a statement.

While the fundamentals of the country's quota management system were sound, the operational review would ensure the fishing system was up to date and working as fairly and efficiently as it could, he said.

Earlier this month, an international team of researchers published a study showing New Zealand's commercial fishers were illegally dumping fish.

The Ministry for Primary Industries has also launched an independent inquiry into why it did not prosecute skippers who were believed to be illegally dumping fish.

Critics of New Zealand's quota management system say it unintentionally encourages the under-reporting of catches.

Some environmental campaigners have called for boycotts of New Zealand fish as a result of the controversy. Endit