Sea Shepherd seizes African gillnet with 200 dead toothfish | Asian Correspondent

Sea Shepherd seizes African gillnet with 200 dead toothfish | Asian Correspondent
 Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon, Dec 30, 2014

After an aggressive 5-day chase in the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd finally retrieved what it calls illegal gillnet abandoned by the African illegal toothfish vessel, Thunder. Along with the 25-km-long net are 200 dead toothfish and other marine species.

Sea Shepherd’s aerial shot of gillnet retrieval operation on the aft-deck of the Sam Simon. (Photo: Giacomo Giorigi)

The ship, Sam Simon, chased Thunder for five days and confiscated gillnet reportedly abandoned by the poaching vessel. Sea Shepherd claims that Thunder is illegally fishing inside the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) area of management located in the Southern Ocean.

The 30-member crew from 15 nations retrieved the gillnet with over 200 targeted Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish found dead with it. Scientists on board the ship confirmed that a number of the dead toothfish were females of a reproductive age, and were carrying eggs.

Non-target species are also hauled including rays, jellyfish, crabs and a “staggering number” of grenadiers- all dead. A majority of the crabs caught in the net , however, were still alive and were released back into the water.

Over 200 dead toothfish are caught in the Thunder’s gillnet. (Photo: Jeff Wirth)

Captain of the Sam Simon, Sid Chakravarty, said with the retrieval of the illegally laid gillnet set, combined with the pursuit of the Thunder, Operation Icefish has achieved what it had set out to do in less than a month since it kicked-off.

He added, “…The Sam Simon crew has given the world a chance to observe first-hand the destruction caused by this fishing method. Never has any conservation movement seen the recovery, confiscation and documentation of such length of gear. The onus is now on the relevant international authorities to use this evidence to prosecute the Thunder.”

Before the New Year, the Sam Simon will continue to scout the region around Banzare Bank on the lookout for more gillnet sets laid out by the Thunder.

Captain Chakravarty has reported the salvage operation to the relevant authorities, including Interpol, CCAMLR, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and Australian Federal Police. The confiscated equipment will be kept as evidence of the Thunder’s illegal activity, and handed-over to the relevant port authorities to aid in the prosecution of the vessel.

Captain Sid Chakravarty identifies the 91st toothfish hauled from the gillnet. (Photo: Jeff Wirth)

She Shepherd said  the Nigerian-flagged Thunder was issued with an Interpol Purple Notice following a joint effort by Norwegian, New Zealand and Australian authorities, and is currently included on CCAMLR’s black-list of IUU fishing operators.

The use of gillnets has been outlawed by CCAMLR since 2004, and the Commission has specifically expressed concerns regarding the impact of this fishing method on the marine ecosystems of Antarctica.

The Bob Barker ship has been in pursuit of the Thunder since the vessel first fled on December 17. Operation Icefish is Sea Shepherd’s 11th Southern Ocean Defence Campaign, and the first to target IUU toothfish fishing operators in the waters of Antarctica.

The campaign has been unstoppable despite criticism from academic figures in Tasmaniaearlier this month. Read related article here.

Conservationist blasts ‘academic hogwash’ on Sea Shepherd | Asian Correspondent

Conservationist blasts ‘academic hogwash’ on Sea Shepherd | Asian Correspondent
 Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon, Dec 30, 2014

Environmentalist and former Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown has blasted the University of Tasmania for its reported condemnation of Sea Shepherd’s campaign to confiscate illegal fishnets from the Southern Ocean.

Environmentalist Bob Brown. (Photo: Bob Brown Foundation)

The university also released an article earlier this month on Sea Shepherd’s Icefish Operation which targets illegal fishing of Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfish in the Southern Ocean “to fill a law enforcement void” The academic writers cautioned “that when it comes to the law and toothfish, Sea Shepherd may have to be careful it doesn’t end up on the wrong side. ”

Brown said the university’s stance is “counter-productive academic hogwash”.

Brown, through The Sea Shepherd’s press release clarified,”With most of the world’s wild fisheries collapsing, this carping criticism of the only people taking high-seas action against the Patagonian toothfish poachers will damage the University of Tasmania’s remnant international reputation as a centre of environmental wisdom”,

He added, “Compounding the university’s learned negativity is the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources executive secretary’s reported opinion that hauling the pirate toothfishers’ abandoned nets or lines out of the Southern Ocean is fishing and therefore unauthorised.”

“This fails the primary school common sense test. Citizens are left to assume CCAMLR wants the deadly nets left drifting through the ocean”, Brown said.

“Instead of backing Sea Shepherd Australia’s ocean-saving ships Bob Barker and Sam Simon in their life-saving work these negative nerds are head-banging their desks while the villains flee back to Africa. Taxpayers have every right to expect the experts would be earning their pay better than this, even in the Silly Season”, he said. “All the more so when the fishing industry’s Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators has praised Sea  Shepherd’s work.”

Brown heads the Bob Brown Foundation.

Sea Shepherd to hunt toothfish poachers in Antarctic | Asian Correspondent

Sea Shepherd to hunt toothfish poachers in Antarctic | Asian Correspondent
 Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon Oct 24, 2014 

Marine conservation group, the Sea Shepherd, is gearing up for another Southern Ocean expedition in time for an Antarctic summer.

The group suspects the Japanese will not return to kill whales this hunting season, but if they do, they will drive them back to Japan. The International Court of Justice declared in Marchthis year Japanese whaling in the area is illegal.

Sea Shepherd is launching their next mission called Operation Icefish to catch poachers of Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfish.

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is the most valuable fishery in Antarctic or subantarctic waters. (Photo: AFMA)

The group said toothfish poaching is another threat in the area that has had a devastating effect on the icefish population. They warn that anyone caught fishing illegally will have their nets seized and they will work with authorities to confiscate illegal boats.

The Sea Shepherd ship, Sam Simon, arrived in Auckland’s harbour yesterday after a voyage from Melbourne. The ship, carrying 25 crew from around the globe, arrived in New Zealand to source supplies and to prepare for the upcoming operation.

Operation Icefish will be the first campaign of its kind, using innovative direct action tactics to fill a law enforcement void exploited by illegal toothfish operators.

The Bob Barker and the Sam Simon will leave Hobart and Wellington, respectively, to patrol the Antarctic.

Peter Hammarstedt, Captain of M/Y Bob Barker and Director of Ship Operations said in a statement that illegal fishing operations will be documented, reported, and confronted. He added, “they will be physically obstructed from deploying their illegal gillnets and unlawful fishing gear will be confiscated and destroyed.”

Michael Lawry, Sea Shepherd New Zealand welcomed the Sea Shepherd ship. He said Sea Shepherd launched a pioneering work to patrol the seas in 2002 with one ship that left Auckland  to confront illegal whalers. In its 12 years of operation, thousands of whales were saved. “Come down and welcome the ship and brave crew into our port,” he said.

Patagonian Toothfish

Toothfish is served as a gourmet dish in upscale restaurants. (Photo: Gourmet Traveller)

An Australian Government report said there is large-scale illegal toothfish fishing around the  Southern Ocean which was first  noticed in 1997. Surveillance and monitoring were then put in place. According to the report, there was a spike in catch up to three to four times higher than the allowable and legal catch of species in all areas. According to the Coalition of  Legal Toothfish Operators Inc,  illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing for toothfish “has been reduced by about 95% since peak levels in the 1990s.” At present, IUU fishing for this species is restricted to the high seas and mostly they are caught by gillnet.

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is the most valuable fishery in the Antarctic or sub Antarctic waters. AFMA said prices fetch up to $US10 per kilo for headed, gutted and tailed fish in major markets in Japan and the United States. Toothfish can grow to a large size (over two metres long and 100 kg in weight). Its white flesh is considered to be of top quality with few bones. Tootfish is served as a gourmet dish in high end restaurants around the world.