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A large purse seiner comes dangerously close alongside the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior.
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Since May, the Rainbow Warrior has been documenting the state of the Mediterranean Sea, including the activities of Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish and Japanese bluefin tuna fishing vessels.
What we found is overfishing on a massive scale, and an industry that routinely ignores quotas and regulations. An estimated 45,000 tons of tuna was taken from the Mediterranean last year - while the legal quota is only 32,000 tons. French, Libyan and Turkish tuna fisherman all stand accused of illegally fishing over their quotas, and some French fisherman have even admitted as much to the media. No wonder the bluefin tuna stock here is in such a dire state.
As Stephan Beaucher of Greenpeace France put it, "Leading scientists and environmental groups agree that the blue fin tuna stock is on the verge of collapse in the Mediterranean as a result of over fishing."
The confrontation
Because governments and industry won't tackle the issue, we were taking our message direct to the people of France. But the government of Marseille and the tuna industry don't want our message heard, and are doing everything they can to keep us from even coming into port.
Back on June 27th, we were granted permission to dock in Marseille, but this week that permission was revoked for "technical and security reasons" (with no further explanation). As the Rainbow Warrior approached the port, over 20 industrial fishing vessels surrounded it. Our ship dropped anchor about a mile out. Now, we're ferrying journalists out by boat to talk to them about the sorry state of the bluefin tuna stock, and the need for marine reserves in the Mediterranean.
"These fisherman may have dirty secrets to hide," said Karli Thomas by phone from the deck of the Rainbow Warrior, "But they won't let them stop us from bringing the plight of the tuna to light."
UPDATE (day 2): Rainbow Warrior boarded and towed
Following an additional confrontation this morning where tuna fishermen blockaded and boarded the Rainbow Warrior as well as fire hosing its crew; our ship is now being towed out of France's 12 mile territorial zone by the French authorities.
"The tuna fishermen are out of control on the high seas and now they are out of control in port,” said Karli Thomas, on board the Rainbow Warrior. "These industrial tuna fishermen blockading us need to take responsibility for their part in the depleted state of the Mediterranean tuna fishery and look at the bigger picture."
"The Rainbow Warrior has broken no laws and the source of the tension is coming from the French tuna fisherman," said Mike Finken, captain of the Rainbow Warrior. "The Rainbow Warrior is capable of leaving under its own propulsion and as we made clear yesterday it had planned to do so at 6pm today to set sail for Spain to continue Greenpeace’s campaign to raise awareness of the threats facing the Mediterranean Sea."
Thomas continued, "They should support our call for establishment of a network of marine reserves to bring about a sustainable, healthy and productive Mediterranean Sea. It is in the long term interests of the environment and all fishing communities, both in France and the rest of the Mediterranean."
Since May, the Rainbow Warrior has been documenting the state of the Mediterranean Sea, including the activities of Spanish, French, Italian, Turkish and Japanese bluefin tuna fishing vessels.
What we found is overfishing on a massive scale, and an industry that routinely ignores quotas and regulations. An estimated 45,000 tons of tuna was taken from the Mediterranean last year - while the legal quota is only 32,000 tons. French, Libyan and Turkish tuna fisherman all stand accused of illegally fishing over their quotas, and some French fisherman have even admitted as much to the media. No wonder the bluefin tuna stock here is in such a dire state.
As Stephan Beaucher of Greenpeace France put it, "Leading scientists and environmental groups agree that the blue fin tuna stock is on the verge of collapse in the Mediterranean as a result of over fishing."
The confrontation
Because governments and industry won't tackle the issue, we were taking our message direct to the people of France. But the government of Marseille and the tuna industry don't want our message heard, and are doing everything they can to keep us from even coming into port.
Back on June 27th, we were granted permission to dock in Marseille, but this week that permission was revoked for "technical and security reasons" (with no further explanation). As the Rainbow Warrior approached the port, over 20 industrial fishing vessels surrounded it. Our ship dropped anchor about a mile out. Now, we're ferrying journalists out by boat to talk to them about the sorry state of the bluefin tuna stock, and the need for marine reserves in the Mediterranean.
"These fisherman may have dirty secrets to hide," said Karli Thomas by phone from the deck of the Rainbow Warrior, "But they won't let them stop us from bringing the plight of the tuna to light."
UPDATE (day 2): Rainbow Warrior boarded and towed
Following an additional confrontation this morning where tuna fishermen blockaded and boarded the Rainbow Warrior as well as fire hosing its crew; our ship is now being towed out of France's 12 mile territorial zone by the French authorities.
"The tuna fishermen are out of control on the high seas and now they are out of control in port,” said Karli Thomas, on board the Rainbow Warrior. "These industrial tuna fishermen blockading us need to take responsibility for their part in the depleted state of the Mediterranean tuna fishery and look at the bigger picture."
"The Rainbow Warrior has broken no laws and the source of the tension is coming from the French tuna fisherman," said Mike Finken, captain of the Rainbow Warrior. "The Rainbow Warrior is capable of leaving under its own propulsion and as we made clear yesterday it had planned to do so at 6pm today to set sail for Spain to continue Greenpeace’s campaign to raise awareness of the threats facing the Mediterranean Sea."
Thomas continued, "They should support our call for establishment of a network of marine reserves to bring about a sustainable, healthy and productive Mediterranean Sea. It is in the long term interests of the environment and all fishing communities, both in France and the rest of the Mediterranean."
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