December 10, 2014 — New Zealand's biggest fishing company wants to quit the tuna sector in the wake of the failure of international talks to control the fishery.
"If somebody came along and said 'we want to buy your vessels,' we would sell them immediately," Sanford Fisheries chief executive Volker Kuntzsch said.
It was no longer a viable fishery and the way it was operating meant Sanford's involvement in it was harming its image.
Sanford has two large purse-seining boats, San Nikunau and San Nanumea, whose operations include some Pacific exclusive economic zones targeting skipjack tuna.
But the fishery, part of which is controlled by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, is turning into a disaster with hundreds of subsidised boats chasing diminishing stocks. Among them are 650 Chinese flagged boats, all heavily subsidised by Beijing and state governments.