The move follows the discovery of huge nets which can be cut loose and left to keep catching fishing as they float, putting unsustainable pressure on South Pacific fish stocks. In one  astonishing example, a gill net was found  reported to be over 100 kilometres long and full of Antarctic tooth fish. Such nets, which are designed to target fish that live on the bottom of the seabed,  are banned from European and north Atlantic waters.

New Zealand officials have been reportedly concerned about gillnets since two Spanish vessels were reported fishing with long, deep versions between Australia and New Zealand this year. The governments says that the nets, about 100km long, are quite indiscriminate in their catching techniques  and are used to trap deep-sea sharks and other species. If they get lost - and they sometimes do -  they just float about the high seas trapping fish as they go. The nets were cheap, so fishing boats could easily afford to cut them loose and leave them floating around snaring fish as they went, it was claimed.

The Antarctic discovery was revealed  recently as  representatives from Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America met in Auckland to negotiate the final stages of a fishing treaty to apply outside South Pacific countries' exclusive economic zones. New Zealand officials and environmental groups said a ban should be brought in soon.

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