Greenpeace is calling the stance taken by New Zealand at an international fisheries forum "short-sighted and reckless", saying more ocean protection is needed, not further erosion of existing measures in the name of profit.

The annual meeting of the inter-governmental body that governs fishing in the South Pacific high seas (SPRFMO) is meeting in Chile this week.

It’s been revealed that New Zealand is pushing to get Australia’s quota for orange roughy, a deep sea fish with a declining population, while also trying to increase the amount of deep sea coral that can be pulled up by bottom trawling nets.

Greenpeace oceans campaigner Juan Parada says this puts New Zealand at odds with other SPRFMO members, including Australia and the US, who are backing measures to protect vulnerable marine areas.

"New Zealand’s stance at SPRFMO once again shows the desperate, short-term drive for profit, pushed by this Luxon-led government, which is siding with its fishing industry mates and promoting their interests over ocean protection.

"Orange roughy is a slow-growing fish whose populations are under pressure, and just a few months ago, a New Zealand trawler was caught hauling up 37kg of coral in the South Pacific - proving they were fishing in areas of high biodiversity.

"That incident led to the temporary closure of the area to fishing, but now the New Zealand government is calling for these coral ‘trigger’ limits to be lifted so the fishing industry can keep trawling for longer, even if it means destroying deep sea coral reefs.

Note: Currently, under SPRFMO rules, if a trawler pulls up more than 15kg of coral in its nets it triggers an automatic temporary suspension of fishing in the area.

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