Two Korean fishing boats have been seized in the Ministry of Fisheries crack down on fishing in New Zealand's hake grounds off the South Island.
The two boats are the Sur Este 707 seized in Nelson on Monday and the Sur Este 700 seized in Nelson yesterday.
MFish had earlier
seized more than 500 tonnes of fish caught by the Sur Este vessels while fishing in the hake grounds.
This is part of MFish's investigation into fishing in the hake grounds on the Challenger Plaeau, off the West Coast of the South Island and the Southeast Chatham Rise.
Both of the vessels seized this week are flagged in Belize and owned by the Korean company Dong Nam Co Ltd, which was fishing in a joint venture operation with the permit holders South East Resources, of Timaru.
Earlier this month, MFish laid a number of charges against the master of the Korean owned fishing vessel 701 Don Fico, which with its catch, was seized in Nelson on July 16.
MFish has also charged the master of another Korean owned fishing vessel Dong Won 519, which was seized at the port of Timaru on June 30.
The masters of both those vessels will appear in the Wellington District Court on August 8.
- CHRISTCHURCH STAR
