Crew members of the Greenpeace ship the Esperanza observing the Two Star Korean trawler steaming away from Guinea 12 miles protected zone after being found in an area where it is not authorised to fish.
In a joint operation on board the Greenpeace ship M.Y Esperanza
theenvironmental and human rights organisations have been
operatingundercover documenting nearly 70 vessels in West African
waters for thepast ten days.
Of 67 foreign flagged vessels, from Korea, China, Italy, Liberia
andBelize - 19 (28%) are not authorised to fish, 22 (32%) are known
tohave a history of pirate fishing, 9(14%) had hidden names and 8
(12%)were inside 12 mile limit - waters reserved for local
fishermen only.In the shadowy world of pirate fishing, the illegal
catch is thentransferred to refrigerated ships - reefers - many of
which sailstraight into the heart of Europe and the port of Las
Palmas.
Two Guinean enforcement officials, with powers of arrest, have
nowjoined the Esperanza, which will continue to carry out
surveillanceoperations in the region.
"Pirate fishing is a global threat to the oceans and those who
dependupon them. We hear fine words from governments about tackling
theproblem - but if they were serious then we wouldn't need to be
here andoffer our ship to the Guinea authorities," said Sarah
Duthie,Greenpeace Oceans campaigner on board the Esperanza. "The
first thingthat must be done is to close ports to pirate fishing
boats, deny themaccess to markets and ensure that companies are
prosecuted."
West Africa is the only region in the world where fish
consumption isfalling. Local fishermen are losing much needed
income and sometimeseven their lives as they struggle to compete
with the foreign trawlersillegally coming into their waters. The
Guinean authorities havevirtually no capacity to combat the fish
pirates, who sometimes comewithin a couple of miles from the
shore.
"It is complete hypocrisy for governments to talk about
encouraging aidto Africa at the same time as allowing the food and
income they need tobe stolen from their waters and sold in the
markets of Europe," saidHelene Bours, of the Environmental Justice
Foundation. "It is a patternthat is repeated globally and is the
responsibility of all nations toact to make piracy history."
Internationally, pirate fishing is worth between US$4 billion
and US$9billion a year - 20% of the total fish catch. Pirate
fishingtakes place every day, in every ocean. It is estimated that
just insub-Saharan Africa it nets US$1 billion dollars annually,
while in thewaters of the Southern Ocean, up to 50% of the valuable
Patagoniantoothfish may come from illegal activities. In the Baltic
Sea, 40% ofthe cod caught in 2002/2003 was estimated to have been
illegal.
VVPR info: On Board the M.Y Esperanza:Sarah Duthie, Greenpeace UK Oceans Campaigner.Helene Bours, Environmental Justice Foundation Sara Holden: Greenpeace International communicationsAll on: + 47 514 079 87 / 88 or + 871 3244 69010 Photo and Video of the illegal activities is available. Contact: Franca Michienzi: Greenpeace International Photo desk: +31 6 53819255Maarten van Rouveroy: Greenpeace International Video desk: +31 6 4619 7322
Notes: (1). Pirate fishing is Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing.(2). Greenpeace and the Environmental Justice Foundation are working together to expose the pirate fishing fleets that operate without sanction across the globe. Together the international environment and human rights organisations are demanding that governments close ports to ban pirates, deny them access to markets and prosecute companies supporting them.(3). The drive to make piracy history is the second leg of a 14-month global expedition "Defending Our Oceans", the most ambitious ship expedition ever undertaken by Greenpeace to expose the threats to the oceans and demand a global network of properly enforced marine reserves covering 40% of the worlds oceans. Greenpeace aims to gather a million Ocean Defenders by the end of the expedition in February 2007.