{"id":62625,"date":"2024-03-01T17:12:40","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T04:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=62625"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T01:59:14","slug":"on-fisheries-australia-must-be-prepared-for-new-zealand-as-opponent-rather-than-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/on-fisheries-australia-must-be-prepared-for-new-zealand-as-opponent-rather-than-ally\/","title":{"rendered":"On fisheries, Australia must be prepared for New Zealand as opponent rather than\u00a0ally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On February 1, senior Australian and New Zealand ministers signed a Joint Statement of Cooperation<\/a>, acknowledging the long history of collaboration between the two nations.<\/p>\n\n

The same week, New Zealand rejected<\/a> an Australian proposal on sustainable fishing at the annual fisheries meeting of nations that fish in the high seas of the South Pacific. The move has driven a wedge between these traditional allies.<\/p>\n\n

\"A
A catch of orange roughy and some bycatch species in the net hauled by the Belize-registered deep sea trawler ‘Chang Xing’ in international waters in the Tasman Sea. Greenpeace along with more than a thousand scientists are supporting the call for a moratorium on high seas bottom trawling, because of the vast amount of marine life that is destroyed by this fishing method.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

At stake was an agreement by those nations to protect 70% of special and vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as ancient corals, from destructive fishing practices like bottom-trawling.<\/p>\n\n

Until December 2023, NZ was jointly leading the work to implement this agreement with Australia. But New Zealand\u2019s new government, a coalition of conservative parties, rejected the proposed restrictions, citing concerns about jobs and development.<\/p>\n\n

This sudden about-face raises many questions for Australia, and for progress on sustainable fishing more generally. On fishing, Australia must now be prepared to consider New Zealand an opponent rather than ally.<\/p>\n\n

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The United States isn\u2019t buying New Zealand\u2019s reasoning behind backing out of bottom trawling restrictions with the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.https:\/\/t.co\/sI02Q8SAS3<\/a>#BanBottomTrawling<\/a> #nzpol<\/a><\/p>— Nick Young (@nickofnz) February 25, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>