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Illegal longliner crew members hide their identities with balaclavas. They are are attempting to fish illegally in the Southern Ocean.
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Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) pirate fishers steal valuable
resources from the Pacific, destroy fragile fisheries and threaten the
long term sustainability of the region’s tuna fisheries.
As the oceans continue to run out of fish after years of overfishing, more fishing companies are ordering their vessels to do whatever it takes to fill their holds.
This includes ignoring already inadequate rules put in place to protect fish stocks and marine ecosystems.
Pirates operate worldwide, from Antarctic oceans to the Mediterranean Sea, from the North Atlantic to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
They move from fishery to fishery taking as much fish as they can pull onboard. They do not care about the impacts they have on fish stocks or any other marine species caught or tangled in their fishing gear.
Species of marine fish, seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks and bottom dwelling animals are under threat from the pirate fishers. In some cases they are driving species to extinction.
Greenpeace considers "pirates" as primarily those fishing vessels that fly "flags of convenience" (FOC). Their vessels sometimes carry no markings at all to mask their identities at sea.
Pirate companies often buy and fly "FOCs" from countries whose flags are for sale with no questions asked. Pirate vessels use "dummy" or "shell" companies to hide their owners' identities and go to extraordinary lengths to conceal international trade routes.
They do this to dodge fishing rules set by their own countries and the international community.
Vessels servicing FOC fishing vessels at sea (for re-supply or transporting fish to market) are also pirate vessels as they ensure that FOC fishing vessels can continue to fish without restriction. This trend has been recognised by governments as a major threat to marine biodiversity.
Because pirate fishers catches are unreported, it is difficult for scientists to determine sustainable levels of catch. There are currently no good estimates of total catch taken by pirate fishers but it is recognised throughout the region that they take massive amounts of fish.
IUU fishing is undertaken by both local and foreign fishing vessels with access licenses and fishing vessels without licenses.
Vessels with licenses are considered IUU if they are not regulated accordingly, do not report their catch, or are deliberately targeting species they are not licensed to catch like sharks.
Fishing vessels without licenses operate within exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and in adjacent high seas areas. Pirate vessels will often fish illegally within rich fishing grounds inside EEZs and then falsely claim that their catch is caught in the high seas donut holes.
Other unregulated vessels will catch tuna as the fish migrate through donut holes. The donut hole or area of high seas bounded by EEZs to the north of Papua New Guinea is reported to have between seven to 12 pirate fishers daily.
As the oceans continue to run out of fish after years of overfishing, more fishing companies are ordering their vessels to do whatever it takes to fill their holds.
This includes ignoring already inadequate rules put in place to protect fish stocks and marine ecosystems.
Pirates on the move
Pirates operate worldwide, from Antarctic oceans to the Mediterranean Sea, from the North Atlantic to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
They move from fishery to fishery taking as much fish as they can pull onboard. They do not care about the impacts they have on fish stocks or any other marine species caught or tangled in their fishing gear.
Species of marine fish, seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks and bottom dwelling animals are under threat from the pirate fishers. In some cases they are driving species to extinction.
Flags of convenience
Greenpeace considers "pirates" as primarily those fishing vessels that fly "flags of convenience" (FOC). Their vessels sometimes carry no markings at all to mask their identities at sea.
Pirate companies often buy and fly "FOCs" from countries whose flags are for sale with no questions asked. Pirate vessels use "dummy" or "shell" companies to hide their owners' identities and go to extraordinary lengths to conceal international trade routes.
They do this to dodge fishing rules set by their own countries and the international community.
Vessels servicing FOC fishing vessels at sea (for re-supply or transporting fish to market) are also pirate vessels as they ensure that FOC fishing vessels can continue to fish without restriction. This trend has been recognised by governments as a major threat to marine biodiversity.
Because pirate fishers catches are unreported, it is difficult for scientists to determine sustainable levels of catch. There are currently no good estimates of total catch taken by pirate fishers but it is recognised throughout the region that they take massive amounts of fish.
Licensing
IUU fishing is undertaken by both local and foreign fishing vessels with access licenses and fishing vessels without licenses.
Vessels with licenses are considered IUU if they are not regulated accordingly, do not report their catch, or are deliberately targeting species they are not licensed to catch like sharks.
Fishing vessels without licenses operate within exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and in adjacent high seas areas. Pirate vessels will often fish illegally within rich fishing grounds inside EEZs and then falsely claim that their catch is caught in the high seas donut holes.
Other unregulated vessels will catch tuna as the fish migrate through donut holes. The donut hole or area of high seas bounded by EEZs to the north of Papua New Guinea is reported to have between seven to 12 pirate fishers daily.
