The “2012 Compliance Risk Profile of the Sub-Antarctic Southern Blue Whiting Fisheries” (dated December 2013) by Ministry of Primary Industries Compliance and Response Branch, was leaked to Greenpeace in 2018.
This report was based largely on an operation carried out by the investigations team at Ministry of Primary Industries, Operation Trois (August to October 2012).
Key findings include:
- Carton weights: 56% of trips examined had underweight cartons; 44% adequate [p.25].
- Of the 16 landings examined by fisheries officers over the course of three months, underweight cartons added up to 151 tonnes of under-reporting. There were an additional 6 landings that were not examined, so it’s likely to be higher [p.26].
- These underweight cartons were broken down by fishing company:
- Amaltal 14 tonnes under-reported
- Independent 54 tonnes under-reported
- Maruha 34 tonnes under-reported
- Sanford 6 tonnes under-reported
- Sealord 43 tonnes under-reported [p.26].
- Under-reporting of catch, linked to the way fish were processed on board, was estimated by the Fisheries Officers at up to 2678 tonnes [p.37].
- Large amount of effort in this fishery was bottom trawling. [p.20]
- Catching too much fish and leaving it in the net for extended periods was common – causes damage to fish [p.21].
