This week it was hard to miss the news that Greenpeace has been out on the water chasing kiwi fishing boats. For the fishers on the receiving end of the vandalism and other threatening behaviour, it has felt like a violation.
As a quick recap, you will have likely seen that late last week Greenpeace spray painted the words “ocean killer” on a Talley’s vessel, while it was fishing on the Chatham Rise. Just a couple of days later, Sealord got the same treatment. Both vessels were chased and filmed.
Greenpeace says it’s calling out destructive fishing techniques. We say bottom contact fishing in New Zealand has a small footprint and employs numerous methods that minimise impacts.
Lawful protest is acceptable. But our worry at Seafood New Zealand, and across many people in the industry we have spoken to in recent days, is that Greenpeace's actions may lead to someone being seriously hurt or even killed.
What they are doing is foolish and unsafe. For example, Sealord said that the Greenpeace crew “positioned themselves under the Ocean Dawn’s factory water sump outlet, which meant water poured onto them when the factory sump’s automatic float switch self-activated.”
The protestors could have been knocked out of their boat and potentially sucked underneath the Sealord vessel. Check out Sealord's account of the incident and the video.
Then there’s the impact on our people. The Sealord skipper had the following to say: “As skipper, I feel completely violated and helpless. You do your best to keep everyone safe and well. We do our utmost to adhere to all the regulations and protocols in terms of health and safety and Maritime New Zealand rules. To witness this being totally ignored is flabbergasting!”
The crew have all said they feel like "it was a home invasion".
Our commercial fishing teams on the water live in their vessels. So being chased, having their vessels vandalised and witnessing incredibly dangerous behaviour is invasive and scary.
We call on Greenpeace to try talking, not stalking.
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