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ACTION UPDATE: DOCUMENTING A PIRATE FISHING VESSEL - CHIEN CHUN NO.8 Wednesday, 3rd May, 2000 Times: GMT +1 8:00am: We have been tracking a ship since about 5pm yesterday evening and now it's time to check her out. An inflatable is made ready as a precaution and nearly everyone is up on deck as Phil, our helicopter pilot, Jeremy our photographer and Gavin our videographer take off in "Tweetie" and head for the ship, which is about 10 miles away.

We are now in the Gulf of Guinea -fishing grounds for tuna and "tuna- like"species such as marlin and swordfish: this vessel may be one of those known to fish in the region, evading international and regional regulations - the "pirate fishing vessels". In this case, the relevant agreement is the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Article 1 of ICCAT recommendation 98-11 "concerning the ban on landing and transshipments of vessels from non- contracting parties..." which entered into force on 21 June 1999, states:

"A vessel flying the flag of a non-contracting party, entity or fishing entity, which has been sighted in the ICCAT Convention area ... is presumed to be undermining ICCAT conservation measures".

8:15: Phil radios the MV Greenpeace from the helicopter requesting a new position: they have been unable to locate the ship.

8:20: We can see the helicopter and ship very close to one another on the radar, so Tweetie must be almost over the ship.

8:25: Phil radios us that "Operations are normal" and they are on their way back. At first we think that this means the ship is operating legally. Then third mate Jo advises that in fact this means that the helicopter is fine. We rush to the back of the ship, overlooking the helideck, and wait for Tweetie's return.

8:30: Tweetie circles the mv Greenpeace before landing - Phil makes it look so easy, although we're moving and rolling with the waves. The wind is about force 5. Gavin is the first to unbuckle and clamber out. We rush down to find out what they saw. "Belize!" The vessel is registered on Belize flag, which is one of the most notorious of the Flags of Convenience countries: GP considers as "pirates" (among others), those fishing vessels that fly Flags of Convenience. Such flags are used by fishing boat owners/companies to avoid fishing conservation and management regulations as well as safety/labour standards.

8:35: Hélène, our onboard campaigner heads for the campaign office to check the vessel name, Chien Chun No.8 against two lists: one is a list tabled by the governments of Japan and the US at the last annual meeting of ICCAT in November 1999 and the second is another list tabled at that meeting by the Federation of Japan Tuna Fisheries Co- operative Associations. These lists will help us to establish whether the Chien Chun No. 8 is a pirate fishing vessel. Sure enough, there she is, appearing on the combined 1999 Japan/U.S. List of Unregulated and Unreported Tuna Longline Vessels. She is owned by Great Ocean Enterprise S.A., most probably a so-called "shell company" registered in Belize. Fishing vessel owners who register with Flag of Convenience countries know full well that these countries will not control their fleets. The vessels can then fish as if the rules don’t apply. The Chien Chun's expected area of catch: Atlantic and Indian. Points of export to Japan: Cape Town and Mahe (in the Seychelles) - this demonstrates the mobility of these vessels, which move from fishery to fishery, taking as much fish as they can pull onboard.

8:40: We head down to Gavin's cabin to have a look at the footage shot from the helicopter of the Chien Chun, to see what she is doing. It seems that she is setting a line from the starboard stern of the ship. There are quite a few people up on deck and they wave to the helicopter.

9:30: Phil takes Tweetie out again, this time on a test flight.

Tuna fishing has been practiced in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea since the earliest times and as far back as fishing in these waters goes, the tunas have always been a prized catch. In more recent times, however, some of the region’s tuna species and other “tuna- like” species are suffering population declines as they have become targets for industrial-scale tuna fishing fleets. This is of great concern to law-abiding fishermen, fisheries scientists and environmentalists.

The Chien Chun No.8 may well be fishing for Bigeye and Yellowfin tuna, recent high catches of which, especially since 1991, have caused the stocks to decline rapidly. The Bigeye tuna stock is now over-exploited and at the point at which it could decline precipitously if the current catch levels are not reduced.

Scientists have recommended that fishing effort be quickly and severely curtailed. Based on ICCAT figures, it is projected that up to 25% of the Bigeye catch and 10% of the Yellowfin tuna catch are taken by vessels flying Flags of Convenience. These pirate fishers are cashing in on rising global demand and high tuna prices being bid in the lucrative markets of Europe, Asia and North America, with a total disregard for the impact of their operations on these and other marine species.

12:15-12:30: Tweetie flies over the Chien Chun again. Gavin advises that they have now laid the line.

12:30: The Captain of the Chien Chun contacts us on the ship's radio. He is Japanese, so Namhee who is from Korea, but speaks Japanese advises that they are fishing in contravention of ICCAT. The Captain insists that they are doing nothing illegal and Namhee asks, if this is the case, that they co-operate and allow us on board to speak to them. The Captain agrees and we advise him that we will be sending some of our crew over in one of our inflatables.

12:45: The Blue Whale, our largest inflatable, is launched but retrieved again due to a steering problem.

14:10: Helene, George (our Taiwan interpreter) and Namhee jump into the MOB (Man Overboard) - one of the smaller orange inflatables - and head over to and board the Chien Chun.

14:30: Jimmy our outboard mechanic in training, Gavin (videographer) and Jeremy (photographer) join the others on board the Chien Chun.

16:00: The wind's picking up and it's now around force 6, making it increasingly difficult to recover our crew members from the Chien Chun in the MOB. The seas are probably the roughest we have encountered since leaving Cape Town.

17:50: We get as close to the Chien Chun as possible, in order to make it easier to recover our crew. In spite of a large swell, the wind seems to have dropped a little and they all make it back to the mv Greenpeace safe and sound.

It has been a great day! Gavin and Jeremy have returned with footage documenting the Chien Chun's fishing operations. The Captain and crew of the Chien Chun appear completely unaware that they are doing anything wrong. Belize, the flag on which the Chien Chun is registered, is one of the countries identified by ICCAT as a major Flag of Convenience country whose vessels fish in the area. Hélène advised the Captain that he is operating in contravention of ICCAT and that Belize either has to become part of ICCAT or they have to register the Chien Chun on Taiwanese flag and fish within the Taiwanese quota. Greenpeace has notified the Belize government - Foreign Minister and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Belize.

While on board, the ship began hauling in its 160km fishing line. This has 2,800 hooks. It takes 5-6 hours to let the line out and 14 hours to pull it in again and they do this constantly, only stopping to move to another area. They landed 3 Bigeye tunas while we were on board.

The fish are carefully cleaned, their fins removed and then flash frozen, before being stored in the ship's deep freeze hold. Sharks are also caught on the line and we saw a lot of shark fins hung on lines to dry. The rest of the shark is simply thrown back into the sea.

The company owning the Chien Chun is in fact based in Taiwan. Only the Captain and the fishing master are from Japan, the chief enginner is from Taiwan and most of the crew are from mainland China. Flag of Convenience vessels are known for harsh working conditions with the fishermen on board being exploited for the financial benefit of the companies running this trade. The Chien Chun was no exception: she and her crew, who were very pleasant and willing to allow us to document their operations, have been at sea for 10 months now, working 7 days a week. The crew are on 3 year contracts and stay at sea for a year, before having one month off. Only the Captain and Fishing Master have 3 months off after a year at sea.