Murray McCully

Wellington, Dec 18 NZPA - An air force Orion discovered an illegal fishing vessel in the Ross Sea during a routine patrol on Wednesday, the Government said today.

The Togolese flagged Carmela is believed to be the former blacklisted Gold Dragon, Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley said.

The Carmela was using deep sea gillnets which are banned in the area managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resoures (CCAMLR), the ministers said.

New Zealand has reported the sighting to CCAMLR to ensure other commission members don't allow the vessel to use their ports or permit the import of any fish caught by it.

Earlier today Mr Heatley announced New Zealand had signed an international agreement designed to prevent illegally caught fish being landed in ports.

The United Nations agreement on the elimination of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is the first legally binding international treaty dealing with the problem, Mr Heatley said.

Its measures apply to vessels from the time they request entry to a port until they leave it and include denying entry and inspections.

Mr Heatley said IUU fishing undermined efforts to conserve and manage fish stocks, as well as impacting on social and economic opportunities, food security and the environment.

"As a world leader in fisheries management, we take our international duties and responsibilities very seriously," he said.

"This is a significant step in the evolution of legally binding rules to combat IUU fishing. The scale of the problem internationally is huge."

Mr Heatley said the global value of IUU fishing was estimated at between $6 billion and $13 billion.

"To put this in perspective from a New Zealand point of view, it represents between four and 10 times the value of our annual seafood exports."