Fisheries Minister Shane Jones calls for review of coral limits to avoid fishing bans

Shane Jones wants international coral limits reviewed to avoid bans on fishing when bottom trawlers haul up more than the rules allow.

The comments from the Oceans and Fisheries Minister come in the wake of a New Zealand vessel catching more than double the legal amount of 15kg of coral.

It triggered an automatic suspension of fishing in the Lord Howe area of the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia until at least 2026.

Jones told RNZ he was "astounded a trifling amount of 37kg has been catastrophised".

"We need to revisit what's an acceptable amount to extract accidentally when harvesting."

He told RNZ he would be speaking to his officials at their next meeting and asking them to take his concerns to the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Jones received political donations from two companies connected to the owner of the fishing vessel at the centre of the coral haul.

In donation declarations for the 2023 campaign Jones received $7000 from Aimex Limited and West food seafood.

The director and chief executive of those companies, respectively, is also the chief executive of Westfleet Fishing, which owns the trawler in question.

Jones told RNZ his political donations had been well and truly disclosed.

"The views I have, I know they do sound awkward, but they are an ingredient in a broader debate.

"I'm aware the green groups fear that because NZ First has received donations, and myself, from fishing interests through the electoral process, that that might distort my thinking," he said.

"My thinking in relation to the primacy of the fishing industry predates my arrival in politics, and it predates the receipt of any money."

Any suggestion his judgement was tainted by donations was "factually incorrect but politically predictable", he said.

News of the trawling incident has prompted the Green Party to urgently call on the government to ban bottom trawling, saying it was either that or allowing the ocean's ecosystems to be "ripped apart and washed away".

But Jones did not see the 37kg haul as a "fatal threat to the ecosystem" and pointed out the rules were followed and a suspension had been put in place.

"Obviously, it has happened and occurred within the framework, and there's been a closure initiated... This incident will now be seized upon by the stakeholders who want to drive New Zealand out of fishing in that part of the ocean."

MPI international fisheries manager James Brown told RNZ the automatic suspension was triggered when the Secretariat for the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), which regulates fishing on the high seas of the South Pacific, was notified of the coral haul on 10 October.

"The coral, weighing 37kg, was predominantly gorgonian corals (sea fans), with a small amount of black and stony corals. It was reported as accidentally caught and weighed by the Fisheries New Zealand observers. The location was recorded as part of the notification of the encounter."

While each regional fisheries management organisation, including SPRFMO, set its own limits, the threshold in this case in that particular area was set at 15kg of coral being hauled up before fishing suspensions kicked in, he said.

"The vessel involved was carrying Fisheries New Zealand observers as required, and followed the correct procedure in notifying the accidental coral capture. There are no indications at this stage that the vessel breached its high seas fishing permit or SPRFMO regulations," Brown told RNZ.

The encounter would be reviewed next year by SPRFMO's science committee, which would then provide a report for SPRFMO members to consider whether to re-open the closed area at the 2026 Commission meeting.

"Currently, there are 10 New Zealand-flagged vessels that have been issued permits to fish in the SPRFMO area: four trawl vessels and six bottom longline vessels. Australia is also approved by SPRFMO to permit its vessels to bottom trawl in the area," Brown said.

Last year, The Tasman Viking, the vessel responsible for the incident that is owned by Westfleet Fishing, was seized from the company for trawling up coral - however it is understood the company paid to have it released.

Green Party spokesperson for oceans and fisheries Teanau Tuiono said the incident was a "predictable result of policies that prioritise profit over protection".

"Today's news is a stark reminder of the damage bottom trawling can do to the fragile ecosystems that line our ocean. Bottom trawling is infamous for its devastating impacts on marine life, and yet, here we are-witnessing the destruction of coral ecosystems that took thousands of years to grow, obliterated in moments.

"Minister Jones' response to this environmental vandalism highlights his complete and utter disregard for our environment. It is high time he climbed out of the pocket of the industry interests that have him wrapped around their finger and stood up for our ocean before its critical ecosystems are destroyed."

Jones, however, told RNZ there were always trade-offs.

"If you want a modern economy it requires revenue, and we gather our revenue from an export perspective, predominantly from the primary produce sector.

"Fisheries is a part of primary produce and, now and again, a couple of lumps of coral will go by the way, but you've got to consider the importance of GDP, and I wouldn't catastrophise the loss of coral," he said.

The haul in excess of the 15kg threshold was not done deliberately, he said.

"There's no evidence this is an act of callousness or an act of provocation.

"It's only 37kg of coral. If you took 37kg off my puku, I still wouldn't be the weight I was in 1978 when I left St Stephen's School."

RNZ has approached Westfleet Fishing for comment.

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