The Barents Sea is home to one of the world's last relatively
healthycod populations, but the stock is now being heavily
exploited.According to estimates from the International Council for
theExploration of the Sea (ICES), 26% of all cod caught in the
Barents Seain 2005 was illegal (1).
"The fishing industry has heavily plundered the cod stock in the
NorthSea and now they are starting to overexploit the stocks in the
BarentsSea," says Farah Obaidullah, Greenpeace Netherlands Oceans
Campaigner."Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing seriously
underminesefforts to conserve and manage fish stocks and it poses a
severe threatto the Barents cod stock and the entire Barents
ecosystem."
A frequent used tactic by trawlers in the Barents Sea is
tounder-report their daily catches, and to tranship parts of their
catchunreported to reefer vessels like the "Mumrinskiy". These
reefers thenbring the stolen fish in Dutch ports, where landing
documents are notverified. This allows illegal fish to be
'laundered' and enter theEuropean market through Holland.
The Mumrinskiy has a clear history of illegal operations,
includingtranshipment of fish from blacklisted vessels, ignoring
commands fromNorwegian Authorities and falsifying documents with
double accountingto hide illegally caught fish. The "Mumrinskiy"
has often transitedthrough international waters circumventing the
Norwegian ExclusiveEconomic Zone (EEZ), thereby avoiding
inspection. Greenpeace calls fora common inspection policy to be
put in force urgently in portsreceiving fish, which would grant
local authorities the right toseizure in cases of documented
fishing illegalities.
"It is a scandal that Russian reefers use Dutch harbours to
laundertheir illegal fish," says Obaidullah. "The only way to stop
illegal codfrom ending up on our plates is to carry out thorough
inspections andconfirm with the relevant authorities that the catch
is legal before itcan be offloaded in Holland. The Dutch government
and internationalcommunity must implement international agreements
against illegal,unreported and unregulated fishing. We cannot
afford to wait for the EUor indeed international measures to come
into force. The Dutchgovernment as well as the international
community must act now to helpprotect our last healthy cod
population."
The Greenpeace ship MY Arctic Sunrise is working in the North
andBaltic Sea as part of the organization's global Defending Our
Oceans(DOO) expedition. The fleet include the MY Esperanza
documenting oceanspollution in the Philippines, the MY Rainbow
Warrior confronting thetuna fleets wiping out the last of the great
fish in the Mediterraneanand the MY Arctic Sunrise, which is
exposing the hidden face of piratefishing in the North and Baltic
Seas. The DOO expedition aims at tohighlight the wonders of and the
environmental threats to the world'soceans and to campaign for the
establishment of marine reserves.
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation, which
usesnon-violent, creative confrontation to expose global
environmentalproblems, and to force solutions essential to a green
and peacefulfuture.
Sign up as an Ocean Defender at oceans.greenpeace.org
Other contacts: Farah Obaidullah, Greenpeace Netherlands Oceans Campaigner, (on board of the Arctic Sunrise) +31 615011161. Iris Menn, Greenpeace Germany Oceans Campaigner, +49 171 888 00 23 Isabel Leal, Greenpeace International Media Officer (in Amsterdam) +31 20 718 2051
Notes: (1) www.ices.dk/committe/acfm/comwork/report/2006/may/cod-arct.pdf
Exp. contact date: 2006-09-20 00:00:00