WORLD : Australia, N.Z. to Hunt Drift Nets

Australia and New Zealand will send military tracking aircraft on flights over the South Pacific to spot fishing boats using so-called wall-of-death drift-net techniques, the government said today.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke said the flights of Lockheed Orions by both air forces will coincide with the fishing season, from Dec. 1 to March 1.

“It was in response to this pressure, earlier this year, that Japan suspended drift-net fishing operations in the South Pacific,” Hawke said. “Taiwan has also reduced its fleet numbers but has indicated that it will continue some drift-net fishing this season.”