Greenpeace is calling for an independent commission of inquiry into how the Ministry for Primary Industries handles the fishing industry.

READ MORE: Fisheries fiasco - MPI failing to enforce law

Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman says the Ministry (MPI) has awarded the contract for fishing vessel monitoring and camera installation to a subsidiary of seafood giant Sanford, and it's a clear conflict of interest to have a contract to monitor potentially illegal activity in the fishing industry awarded to the company Trident, which is owned and controlled by the industry.

Dr Norman says the contract was awarded in December, before Ministry reports were made public.

Norman alleges that the Ministry thought no one would find out about all the alleged illegal activity, and they'd be able to get away with giving the contract to an entity controlled by the industry.

MPI recently instigated an independent review into why it took no prosecutions after a compliance operation discovered illegal fish dumping by South island-based fishing vessels in 2012 and 2013.

The review came after internal reports into the incidents were leaked to the media.

Sanford chief executive Volker Kuntzsch said Greenpeace should support and not attack the industry.

"The industry partnerships with Trident are no secret, they are on the Trident website," he said.

"We are proud of that work, this technology on our boats and the investment we are making, which we have been talking about for the past year."

"I’m sure I speak for everyone involved in investing in the Trident electronic monitoring technology and research, when I say that we would be very pleased to host Mr Norman to get him fully briefed on this technology, what it does, and why we’re backing it."