The Science
Patagonian toothfish are not the only species being decimated by pirate fishing vessels. The science team on board the Arctic Sunrise documents the impact pirate fishing has on a wide array of bird species in the Southern Ocean.Don't forget to feast your eyes on our Bird of the Week!

Longline Fishing
What is longline fishing and why is it so detrimental to a variety of wildlife?

Campaign Report
Track the progress of our campaign by checking out these periodic reports from Greenpeace's onboard campaign team.

Ship Log & Webcast
What's daily life like on a Greenpeace ship? How does the crew prepare for these dramactic actions? And just what is a bosun anyway? Get first hand accounts from our crew.

Last Year
In 1999 Greenpeace embarked on an expedition to expose pirate fishing in the Southern Ocean and caught the notorious, Spanish-owned pirate vessel Salvora illegally fishing in the French waters around Kerguelen Island. Here's an overview of that campaign...

Campaign Report 1

The Grand Prince flies the flag of Belize but it's owned by a Spanish company and is known to illegally fish the waters of the Southern Ocean. It was photographed by the Greenpeace helicopter on 4 March.

4 March 2000
Discovery of the Grand Prince
At 1620 the Arctic Sunrise radio operator noted a signal on the ship radar 150 miles from the coast of Kerguelen and within the French Exclusive Economic Zone.

At 1800 the helicopter investigated and was able to identify the ship as the Grand Prince and photographed the vessel for evidence.

The ship did not seem to be actively fishing and a lack of bird activity around the ship suggested that the Grand Prince may not have been fishing recently. However the ship was steaming into a very remote area, known to be fishing grounds for Patagonian Toothfish.

The Grand Prince was also spotted and photographed by Greenpeace in the notorious pirate port of Port Louis, Mauritius on 7 December 1999 and is known to have unloaded a cargo of Patagonian toothfish at that port on 1 February 2000.

The Grand Prince, aware of another vessel's presence via radar, changed course and eventually left the CCAMLR area, shadowed by Greenpeace to ensure that it did.

The fishing buoys mark one end of a pirate longline. The crew of the M/V Arctic Sunrise confiscated almost 4 kilometers of line on 9 March before rough weather forced them to abandon the effort.

8 March 2000
Evidence of Pirate Fishing

The crew on the Arctic Sunrise helicopter spotted fishing buoys in French waters near Kerguelen Island. The fishing line apparently was set 4 to 6 weeks ago and is the kind normally used by pirate fishing vessels. The late hour and diminishing light prevented the crew from further investigation.

9 March 2000
Greenpeace Confiscates Pirate Fishing Gear

Crewmembers used the Arctic Sunrise anchor winch to begin hauling the fishing line onboard. The fishing gear was set in roughly 1000 meters of water. The main fishing line itself was tangled and the hooks were clean, indicating that it had been in the ocean for a long time - other fish could have fed on the fish and birds hooked on these lines. Ship scientists collected samples from the hooks for later analysis.

Numerous birds congregated around the M/V Sunrise during the hauling operation, as if to provide an illustration of how sea birds could get hooked on lines during deployment or retrieval.

Rough Southern Ocean weather forced the crew to cease hauling operations for safety reasons. Another set of buoys was discovered about 5 miles away. It would turn out that these marked the other end of the line that the crew had just confiscated.

11 March 2000
Greenpeace Disables Second Set of Pirate Fishing Gear

Further searching revealed yet another and apparently fresher set of fishing buoys and beacons, made in Galicia, Spain - known to be home to some pirate fishing companies. Weather again prevented the crew from taking an adequate look at the line and documenting its catch, but they were able to disable the line.

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