The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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WATERWAYS – Waterfront Business In brief… Council sinks plan to hike marina fees Nelson boaties have successfully persuaded the city council to dump a plan to increase marina fees by 15 percent. The increase would have pumped $230,000 into the council's rating account, reducing the amount coming from property rates, but the councillors overturned it at a meeting on June 10. The boat owners said some of them would have had to pay hundreds of dollars more, for no extra services. They did not think it fair they should be perceived as having the means to subsidise other city development plans. The council will instead increase marina fees in line with annual inflation. Retailer bans tuna from FADs Foodstuffs says all tuna under its Pams brand will be fully sourced from fisheries free from fish aggregation devices (FADs) by the end of 2011. "We have been working towards securing a long-term supply of canned tuna which can be sourced sustainably," said the general manager of Foodstuffs Own Brands Ltd, Dave McAteer. "We can now offer both FAD-free and pole and line-caught canned tuna (under the Pams brand). The products will be clearly labelled to help consumers decide what tuna products to buy." McAteer said two of Pams' sandwich tuna products will not be classified as FAD-free because some suppliers were unable to verify the tuna was fully sourced in this manner. Icelandic exhibition an international affair Visitors to the 2011 Icelandic Fisheries Exhibition will have the opportunity to view products and services from over 27 countries from around the world. The triennial event, to be held at Kopavogur, Iceland, from September 22-24, will cover about 13ha of exhibition space. Around 500 companies are expected to showcase the latest developments in the commercial fishing industry, including vessel design and construction, locating and catching methods, processing, packaging and marketing. There will also be national pavilions and group stands from Denmark, Norway, the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom, in addition to a large contingent from Iceland. See www.icefish.ic to register on-line or contact Marianne Rasmussen-Culling, email mrasmussen@mercatormedia.com SEA SHEPHERD SHIP RELEASED SUPPORTERS OF THE Sea Shepherd Conservation Society raised over US$846,290 to save its flagship vessel, the Steve Irwin, less than two weeks after she was detained in the Scottish Shetland Islands. The donations funded a bond to release the Steve Irwin following her detainment on July 15 by British courts, due to a civil lawsuit by the Maltese bluefin tuna fishing company Fish & Fish Limited. The bond was initially estimated to be $1.41 million. Once the court had set the amount, the Sea Shepherd's United Kingdom director, Darren Collis, cleared the money transfer (to the court) with only one minute to spare, the society said. This allowed the Steve Irwin and her crew to depart for the Faroe Islands for Operation Ferocious Isles, where she will join the Brigitte Bardot on an exercise to defend pilot whales. The 59m ship was about to leave Lerwick for the Faroe Islands when court officials served the detainment notice, in which it claimed the society had damaged its property. Sea Shepherd and the Maltese aquaculture industry were involved in a dispute over bluefin tuna fishing off the Libyan coast in June, 2010. Two Maltese divers working onboard a vessel towing a tuna pen were injured when the Steve Irwin rammed the pen. Environmental activists freed hundreds of bluefin tuna they said had been caught illegally, though the fishing crew denied the allegation. "We will not be unsettled or bullied by Fish & Fish's wealth and their reputation of using litigation to silence their opposition. The bluefin tuna is on the threshold of extinction," said Sea Shepherd's founder and president, Captain Paul Watson. "We owe it to this species to fight the poachers. We acted justly in intervening against their illegal operation. And win or lose, we believe that the bluefin tuna is worth whatever money and effort we can muster to save it." Sea Shepherd said it had obtained sufficient evidence to back its case against Fish & Fish. A court date has not been set for the civil case. Former state servant faces fraud charges These checks included the A FORMER ACCOUNTS administrator with the Transport Accident Investigation Commission appeared in the Wellington District Court on July 21 on fraud-related charges. The defendant was remanded on bail to reappear on August 10. The commission's chief executive, Lois Hutchinson, said the alleged offending took place over a period of four years until early this year. It involved "about $284,000 of commission funds", said Hutchinson. "It appears that intricate methods have been used to take money and 44 Professional Skipper September/October 2011 to avoid internal checks and external audit. commission's own fraud prevention and detection programme which had uncovered suspect transactions that led to the laying of a complaint with Police in April." She said an external auditor's report for the year to June 30 described the commission's financial management information and control systems as "very good". "Nevertheless, we have sought expert advice and made changes," Hutchinson said.