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Mauritius: Indian Ocean haven for pirate fishing vessels
Contents Pirate Fishing and the Southern Ocean The emergence of the toothfish fishery Mauritius: still harbouring pirates Pirate Fishing: global problem Mauritius: Also, check out our Pirates Gallery to see Greenpeace's list of recent activity in Mauritius |
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The case of the SalvoraThe case of the Salvora clearly demonstrates that the Mauritian government and its authorities cannot have any confidence in information provided by pirate vessels about the origin of toothfish catches onboard. On 2 March 1999, the Greenpeace vessel MV Arctic Sunrise found an unmarked pirate longliner 45 nautical miles from the subantarctic French territory Kerguelen Island, well within both the French EEZ and CCAMLR Statistical Area 58.5.1. The Kerguelen Plateau is a known “hot spot” for pirate fishing activity. The vessel took no precautions to prevent seabird bycatch, as would be required under CCAMLR regulations. Very large numbers of seabirds, including albatrosses and petrels breeding on nearby Kerguelen Island, were around the vessel. The potential for significant seabird deaths was very high. Upon sighting the MV Arctic Sunrise, the vessel cut its line and fled. The MV Arctic Sunrise pursued the vessel, a chase which ran for 16 days and eventually covered some 3000 miles. When discovered, the vessel was not flying its flag, displaying its name, port or call sign, a breach of international standards and a practice common amongst pirate fishing vessels hiding their identity while fishing illegally. The crew donned woollen ski masks to conceal their identities and crewmembers took hostile action by throwing weights at five Greenpeace crew in an inflatable boat. During the pursuit, Greenpeace identified the vessel as the Belize-registered “Salvora”, a vessel with a history of illegal fishing for Patagonian toothfish in the region. She had most recently been seen in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 14 January, 1999. The Salvora was a repeat offender. The Australian government had already arrested her in October 1997 when she was found fishing for Patagonian toothfish in the Australian EEZ surrounding subantarctic Heard and McDonald Islands. An Australian frigate escorted the vessel to Fremantle, West Australia, where a court subsequently found the vessel and master guilty of illegal fishing and fined them over AUS$1 million. As with most vessels using flags of convenience to dodge fishing regulations set by their own countries and internationally, the Salvora’s true ownership was initially hidden behind the standard “shell” or “dummy” company in Belize. It soon became apparent that a company in Galicia, Spain, owned the Salvora. Galician newspapers carried stories about the “Galician ship” carrying crew from Galicia. In these reports, the Salvora’s Galician legal representatives claimed the vessel was fishing legally. Despite this, the Spanish government denied any Spanish involvement. During the chase, once it became obvious that the Salvora had turned for Mauritius, Greenpeace contacted the Mauritian government to notify it of the Salvora’s imminent arrival, asking them to inspect and investigate its activities. In the event Mauritius was unwilling or unable to conduct such an investigation and take appropriate enforcement action, Greenpeace asked them to deny the Salvora non-emergency access to its ports. The Salvora and the MV Arctic Sunrise arrived at the harbour limits of Port Louis, Mauritius on 16 March, 1999. Greenpeace presented evidence of the vessel’s illegal fishing activities to the Mauritian authorities, the French Embassy and Australian High Commission, confirming that it was found within both French waters and the CCAMLR area. This included a video showing the Salvora at sea and its position displayed on the global positioning system, audiotape of radio exchanges, photo identification and logbook extracts, together with statements from the MV Arctic Sunrise captain and the independent seabird scientist onboard. The Salvora was inspected by a Mauritian team, which found 170 tonnes of Patagonian toothfish onboard. Their report notes that the fishing gear showed signs of having being mounted very recently, leading the team to believe that some of the fishing gear may have been “hurriedly left at sea”. The Salvora’s logbook put the vessel’s position 300 nautical miles away from its true position on the day Greenpeace found it. An informal interview with a Mauritian crewmember revealed that the vessel cut its line and abandoned fishing gear when the Greenpeace vessel was sighted. The report concluded that despite there being “no formal evidence” of illegal fishing within French waters, evidence from the Greenpeace video, observations of fishing gear, and information from the Mauritian crew member, threw doubt upon the credibility of the Salvora’s claims. They noted that the captain could not provide written evidence to formally establish the area where the vessel had fished. The next day, the Mauritian government said it would not allow the Salvora to land its catch in Port Louis. In response, the Salvora’s Spanish owners brought a legal case against the State of Mauritius, the Port Authority and the Director of Shipping for their decision to not allow the landing of toothfish. The Mauritius Supreme Court decision ruled against the Salvora’s owners. In his April 20 judgement, Justice DB Seetulsingh held that there was direct evidence that the Salvora had caught toothfish within the French EEZ. He said the captain of the Salvora could not furnish convincing evidence as to where he carried out fishing activities since he kept neither navigation nor precise fishing records. The court cited the Greenpeace evidence showing that the identification marks of the vessel were hidden and it was impossible to check the veracity of the positions at sea of the Salvora. Following this decision, the Salvora could not unload her catch and left Mauritius shortly afterwards. International efforts to
halt pirate fishing |
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International Office Address: © Greenpeace International |
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