Resumen de Fisheries, Forfeiture Relief and Admiralty: Hartono v Ministry for Primary Industries
New Zealand’s commercial fisheries have for decades been beset with “allegations of trafficking and mistreatment of crews, complaints of underpayment of crew and other breaches of employment rules, questions about vessel safety standards and reported breaches of fisheries and environmental regulations”. 1 Most of the concerns have centred around foreign chartered vessels (FCVs) used by local companies in joint ventures to fish their allocated quotas in New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 2 Matters came to a head in 2011 after widespread negative publicity generated by critical academic commentaries on human rights abuses occurring on FCVs operating in New Zealand waters. 3 The resulting ministerial inquiry into FCVs made several recommendations to tighten up their regulation. 4 FCVs operating in New Zealand waters have been implicated in numerous serious fisheries offences, resulting in prosecutions, convictions and forfeiture of fishing vessels and equipment. These forfeitures have had a significant impact, not only on shipowners and charterers, but also on creditors with interests in the vessel, such as ship mortgagee banks, crew members and suppliers. Unsurprisingly, this has resulted in several reported cases of such parties applying for forfeiture relief and protection of their interests.
