New Zealand vessels to patrol in Southern Ocean

New Zealand off-shore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago will leave the South Island city Dunedin for the Southern Ocean on Thursday to monitor fishing activities, said Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee on Wednesday.

Brownlee said that the patrol is in support of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which has oversight of Southern Ocean fisheries.

The targets of the patrol is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Southern Ocean.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) officials and Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) officers will also join the multi-agency patrol. The MPI will carry out compliance checks on licensed fishing vessels, as well as monitoring for IUU activity.

"New Zealand has been conducting maritime surveillance in the Southern Ocean since the late 1990s, and HMNZS Otago is fully prepared for work in these difficult waters," said Brownlee.

A P3K-2 Orion will be complementing the patrol as well.

The licensed CCAMLR fishing season in the Ross Sea region south of New Zealand starts on Dec.1 2015 and continues until the agreed limits are reached, which is normally in January or early February next year, according to the New Zealand government.