RGI TRAWLER AMERICAN MONARCH TURNED AWAY BY PUBLIC PRESSURE

RGI TRAWLER AMERICAN MONARCH TURNED AWAY BY PUBLIC PRESSURE
Greenpeace and Chilean coastal communities celebrate protection of Southern fish stocks
AMSTERDAM / SANTIAGO DE CHILE, NOVEMBER 14TH, 1996
In an about-face, Resource Group International (RGI) has confirmed that it will not send its supertrawler American Monarch to Chile's already overexploited and poorly managed fishing grounds as planned.
The company's U-turn follows a long campaign by Greenpeace and represents a huge victory for the Chilean people who had voiced their strong opposition to the ship's entry into Chilean waters. Almost 100 metres long with state-of-the-art fish finding technology, the US$ 65 million American Monarch is capable of fishing and processing more fish each day than any other vessel in the world.
"RGI's retreat is one step forward for protecting the region's marine biodiversity from overfishing," said Greenpeace campaigner Juan Carlos Cardenas on board the Rainbow Warrior. "It sends a strong signal to richer countries to stop looking to the South to find the fishing grounds that are already overexploited in their own seas and oceans".
Public outrage from many different sectors within Chile resulted in the Chilean Government's rejection of the American Monarch's licence to fish. The company's appeal against the license rejection has so far been unsuccessful and is in the hands of the Chilean courts.
Over the past months, Chilean coastal communities and local small-scale fishermen have rallied around the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior to oppose RGI's plans. Only three weeks ago, Greenpeace protested at the baptism of the American Monarch in Norway, while the Rainbow warrior prepared for the arrival of the American Monarch in Chilean waters.
Greenpeace demands that RGI now releases any new plans for the American Monarch and urges prospective countries to follow the Chilean example. "The American Monarchs of the world belong to history", said Greenpeace campaigner David Stenerud from the Rainbow Warrior. "Any region or country approached by RGI for permission to fish in their waters should look long and hard at why Chile said NO,"

Note to Editors:
The Rainbow Warrior will celebrate together with coastal fishermen and all the Chilean organisations and individuals who made this victory possible on Saturday in Valparaiso. Please contact Greenpeace Chile on ++56 2 777 95 70 for more details.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Juan Carlos Cardenas or David Stenerud on board the Rainbow Warrior on ++56 9 332 1748 / ++56 9 332 1752,
or
Greenpeace International press desk, Holger Roenitz 00 31 20 5249 545