International shipping company Maersk has denied claims that it was going to stop shipping unsustainable fish - including the New Zealand Orange Roughy.
A spokesperson for Maersk said that although it was reviewing its shipping policy, all fish caught under New Zealand regulations would be accepted.
Earlier Greenpeace claimed that Maersk was refusing to ship some at-risk marine species worldwide, including orange roughy caught in New Zealand waters.
An earlier press release stated that:
"We recognise the global concerns over the overfishing of toothfish species and support efforts to curb this trade," Maersk Line head of global seafood David Pawlan said.
"The checks and processes that we have implemented with our global offices help prevent the transportation of these species as well as illegal, unreported, and unregulated catches of other species."
This comes after Greenpeace reported in March that supermarkets - Trader Joes in the United States and Loblaws in Canada - stopped the sales of orange roughy.
Local fishers using Maersk will now have to find another shipping company to distribute their catch.
New Zealand's total allowable commercial catch for orange roughy was set at 11,062 metric tonnes for the 2009/10 fishing year and exports last year were worth US$51 million.
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Karli Thomas said if the New Zealand government and fishing companies did not stay ahead of the global sustainability movement, New Zealand's seafood industry could end up gutted.
"The net is closing on destructive fisheries as retailers continue to reject unsustainable seafood and now a major shipping company is refusing to transport a number of species plundered from our oceans."
Ms Thomas said Maersk's refusal to ship Antarctic toothfish is in line with a growing movement to protect the Ross Sea.
But the Ministry of Fisheries said New Zealand worked closely with other countries as part of the international conservation convention to manage the Ross Sea and its fisheries.
It said fisheries, including southern bluefin tuna and orange roughy, were carefully managed to ensure sustainability using a "world leading quota management system".
The ministry said New Zealand's main orange roughy fishery catch limits had been reduced by almost 40 percent over the past five years, and others had been closed when science showed that was what was needed to protect sustainability.
Ministry of Fisheries deputy chief executive of fisheries management Gavin Lockwood said bottom trawling was the main fishing method for catching orange roughy, and it was closely managed.
"We know which fishing vessels are bottom trawling. We use satellite monitoring so we know exactly where they are fishing and we require detailed catch reports so we know how much is being caught."
Mr Lockwood said 17 areas had been closed to bottom trawling, equal to 1.2 million square kilometres -- among the largest closure of their type anywhere in the world.
The Green Party said the Maersk's refusal to ship orange roughy added to the rising tide of international rejection of the country's seafood industry.
Its oceans spokesman Gareth Hughes said New Zealand could have a better performing industry if our fisheries were managed with precaution and the export brand was enhanced.
"Consumers have power, and because of them, companies like Maersk, which carries around 40 percent of New Zealand's seaborne trade, are sending some clear signals to our government."
Fishing company Sanford Limited supported Maersk's move to stop shipping illegal, unreported and unregulated catches, but said international scientists noted New Zealand has one of the best fisheries management systems in the world.
NZPA