Moana CEO Steve Tarrant says all of Moana’s full-time contract trawlers have been carrying cameras for the last seven years.
“We want people to know that what we say is happening out there on our vessels is what’s happening. However, with these types of paradigm shifts consideration for all stakeholder concerns need to be resolved and addressed before a compulsory roll out is enforced. “
Chief Operations Officer at Sealord Doug Paulin says the company is in full support of measures that provide increased transparency.
“We are proud of our seagoing people and we know that they do the right thing on our fishing vessels. There are a number of complexities that we are working through however we don’t see these as insurmountable,” Paulin says.
“We’re also aware that there are many other fishing operators who share our view and are in full support of cameras on boats.”
All three operators believe there needs to be financial support for operators who will not be able to afford the cost of the cameras themselves, nor the cost of monitoring and data storage, which are likely to be the most expensive part of any industry-wide camera programme. But the message from all three is that cameras on fishing vessels have their support.
