New Zealand fishing company Sanford is praising authorities for their work in stopping a vessel illegally fishing toothfish.
In a statement, the company referred to authorities in Malaysia stopping and detaining a vessel, the Perlon, which authorities said was carrying 330 metric tons of illegal toothfish. The vessel, registered in Nigeria, was not authorized to fish for the strictly regulated species.
Sanford Chief Operations Officer Greg Johansson (pictured) said Sanford is one of only two companies allowed to fish for toothfish by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which monitors fishing in the Ross Sea fishery, which operates in an area about 4,000 km south of New Zealand.
Johansson said the seizure is reportedly worth approximately NZD 8.6 million (USD , EUR ), and congratulated authorities on the seizure.
“This is an excellent example of the concerted effort that is needed to stomp out the last few remaining IUU, or illegal, unreported or unregulated vessels operating in Antarctic waters,” he said. “We need more work like this to stop the landing and selling of illegally caught fish irrespective of the species, and the reflagging of pirate vessels almost at will.”
