Patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington departs on Sunday for the Southern Ocean from Dunedin to monitor the annual fishing season in the Ross Sea region in an attempt to stamp out illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the area.
The New Zealand navy has discovered a third boat fishing illegally. The Foreign Ministry informed that the HMNZS Wellington caught another vessel, Yongding, to the west of the Ross Sea, in Antarctic waters.
New Zealand Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley has acknowledged the crew of HMNZS Wellington with a presentation to mark the first ever high seas fisheries compliance operation involving the NZ Navy’s new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).
New Zealand’s newest offshore patrol vessel and its crew experienced all Antarctica could throw at them during the past three weeks and passed with flying colours, the navy says.