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Press Releases Photo Gallery Journalists interested in this story please contact: Frederic Claveau |
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Australia leads on pirate port battleSydney, Thursday 6 April, 2000: Pirate fishers landing toothfish were exposed by Greenpeace in the Indian Ocean island state of Mauritius overnight. Greenpeace strongly condemned the Mauritian government for harbouring such pirates whilst congratulating Australia on taking a leading stance against toothfish pirates. "Whilst Australia has closed its ports to suspected toothfish pirates, Mauritius is still an open gateway for illegal trade in this threatened Southern Ocean species," said Greenpeace Oceans campaigner, Bianca Havas. In the Mauritian capital Port Louis, five activists from the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunise displayed a banner reading “Stop Illegal Fishing - Greenpeace”, as the the Belize-flagged ship Rita unloaded its illegal toothfish catch. The Rita, under several previous names and flags, has a long history of illegal fishing activities in the Southern Ocean and of landing toothfish in Mauritius . In Australia recently, two other Belize flagged ships, the Cisne Rojo and Cisne Azul were refused entry by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) after both vessels failed to provide evidence that toothfish recently landed in Mauritius had been caught legally. Greenpeace and Mauritius Port Authority information documented in a new Greenpeace report reveal both vessels had recently unloaded catches of toothfish at Port Louis. In the report, Greenpeace called on Mauritius to close its ports to pirate vessels. "Australia's stance against pirates is unfortunately undermined by the existence of pirate safe havens like Mauritius," said Havas, "To effectively eradicate pirate fishing Australia should call for all CCAMLR Contracting Parties to agree to a moratorium on the toothfish fishery, backed by an international trade ban.” (1) The Greenpeace report, released this week, details how illegally caught toothfish are introduced into the marketplace by trans-shipment through Mauritius. Shipments of toothfish from Mauritius go to the USA, Japan, Chile, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. “Last year the Mauritian Government said it would join the fight against pirate fishing for toothfish”, said Denise Boyd, Greenpeace campaigner onboard the MV Arctic Sunrise in Port Louis, Mauritius. “Yet one year later, it is clear that the government has not lived up to these fine words and future promises, with a long list of pirates still landing catches.” “Greenpeace demonstrated during another visit last year that while pirates claim their catches are “legal”, the Mauritian authorities have no way of knowing if this is true”, said Havas. “Because many of the vessels landing toothfish in Mauritius have a history of illegal fishing or have been seen in the isolated fishing grounds, Mauritius should follow the example set by Australia and challenge the truth of these claims.” The Patagonian toothfish (also known as sea bass) plays an important part in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. It can live for 50 years and does not breed until it is at least 10 years old. It lives in deep waters (from 300 to 3,500 metres) and is found on seamounts and continental shelves around most sub-Antarctic islands. Over the last three years, pirates have caught more than 100,000 tonnes of toothfish valued at AUD$750 million, and have hooked and drowned as many as 190,000 seabirds in their fishing gear—including critically endangered species of albatross.
Note for editors: (1) The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was set up in 1982 to manage and protect Southern Ocean fisheries. CAMLR MEMBER STATES: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, European Community, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, UK, USA, Uruguay.
See all: Pirate Fishing Expedition 2000 press releases |
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International Office Address: © Greenpeace International |
