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ACTION UPDATE: PIRATE-INFESTED WATERS Saturday, 6th May, 2000 Time: GMT+1

A summary:
First there was Chien Chun No. 8. Followed by Jeffrey 816. Jeffrey was joined by Benny No. 87 but it was Jackie 11, Jeffrey's "sister", that joined the Hatsukari. Benny was interested in laying its longline, while the Jiln Horng 206 was more interested in hauling them. The Hatsukari was interested in relieving all of them of their tuna catch, but only transferred bait to Jackie and the Yu I Hsiang. Chien Chun No. 8, Jeffrey and Jackie are registered on Belize flag. The Hatsukari is Japanese-owned and registered on Panamanian flag. Benny's port of registry is Phnom Penh. The Yu I Hsiang and Jiln Horng 206 are registered on Taiwanese flag.
Quiz of the Day: How many pirates? (See below for answer.)

Confused? You wouldn't be the only one! To help piece together today's puzzling events, a more detailed account follows.

Late yesterday afternoon, Tweetie went off to investigate another vessel we had spotted on the radar. It was another pirate fisher, this time by the name of Jeffrey 816, like the Chien Chun 8, also registered on Belize flag. We tracked it with the radar overnight.

6:30am: The wake up call was moved up an hour to ensure that we would be ready for what the dawn would reveal. As the sun rises, it is clear that we are now deep in pirate infested waters! Indeed we are almost surrounded - with one vessel in front of us, one behind and yet another to port.

8:30am: Tweetie takes off to investigate. Behind us is Benny No. 87, another fishing vessel now laying its nets and registered in Cambodia, port of registry (written on the ship's bow) Phnom Penh. Cambodia is not a member of ICCAT and, therefore, not entitled to fish for tuna in these waters. Benny is on the list tabled by the governments of Japan and the US at the last annual meeting of ICCAT in November 1999, as a vessel known to be fishing in this area in contravention of ICCAT.

To port is Jeffrey. Ahead, the explanation for all this activity - a big transport ship or reefer by the name of Hatsukari flagged in Panama and belonging to a Japanese company. Panama used to be a notorious FOC state, but after coming under a lot of pressure, has recently become a member of ICCAT and is making efforts to clean its registries.

The Hatsukari is clearly servicing the pirate fishing vessels and also some vessels which are fishing legally in the area. This appears to be the latest trend in pirate circles: rather than offloading their catch in port, many of these vessels are now serviced by and transship their catches at sea onto reefers.

Greenpeace considers as "pirates" not only those fishing vessels which fly flags of convenience (FOC), like the Chien Chun No. 8 and Jeffrey, but also vessels like the Hatsukari, which service FOC fishing vessels (for fish transport/resupply), regardless of their flag, because they help fishing vessels to continue to avoid restrictions and actions by other states.

This is why Greenpeace is calling on states to, among other things:
Close their ports to FOC fishing vessels and fisheries-related support and transport vessels. Prevent companies based in their country from owning or operating FOC fishing vessels and fisheries-related support and transport vessels.

9:40: We pass Jeffrey on the port side and hang banners along our port and starboard sides which read "Stop Pirate Fishing".

10:00: Tweetie flies again, as another vessel, which has shown up in the meantime - Jackie 11 - manoeuvres alongside the Hatsukari. Jackie is registered on Belize flag, and belongs to the same company in Singapore as Jeffrey (you could say they were brother and sister).

10:40: Namhee calls the Hatsukari on the ship's radio to ask if they are taking tuna from Jackie. The Hatsukari replies that it is not taking Bluefin Tuna on board, only bigeye and yellowfin tunas. It seems they are aware of Greenpeace's 10 year campaign against pirate fishing for Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean. Overfishing of this tuna in the 70s and 80s and again in the early 90s has led to declines in the stock of spawning fish which is thought now to be less than a fifth of its 1970 level.

As the bluefin stocks have rapidly declined, it would now appear that the pirate vessels have moved out of the Mediterranean and have transferred their fishing effort to bigeye. This is the next best species in terms of economic value on the Japanese sashimi-grade market.

These developments resemble what happened with various whale species over the years: as one species was over-exploited, the whalers moved on to over-exploit others. This cycle must be broken: empty seas represent an empty future, not only for the biodiversity of the oceans, but for the livelihood of many local peoples and legal fishermen. This is why Greenpeace is campaigning to stop overfishing of the oceans, and in this case the overfishing of tuna in the South Atlantic by pirate fishers.

10:55: Tweetie lands to refuel and takes off again to film the Hatsukari transferring bait to Jackie. We wait for them to transfer the tuna, and although it seems that it was intended that Jackie would also transfer tuna to the Hatsukari, we appear to have dissuaded them.

11:20: An inflatable is lowered and Bart and Babett brave the pirate infested waters, to circle the Hatsukari and Jackie brandishing a banner that also reads: "Stop Pirate Fishing!" Tweetie circles the skies above.

12:00: Bart and Babett return and Tweetie refuels again, before taking off to check that the Hatsukari is not taking any tuna from Jackie.

13:00: Tweetie returns: the Hatsukari continues to transfer bait to Jackie. We continue to watch through binoculars.

13:50: The Yu I Hsiang turns up.

14:30: Tweetie takes off to find out where she comes from and returns quarter of an hour later, to reveal that she is a Taiwanese vessel. Taiwan is not a member of ICCAT but has agreed to abide by all ICCAT rules and is given quotas to fish for tuna in the South Atlantic. If the Yu I Hsiang has been authorised by the Taiwanese authorities to fish in this area, it is the only vessel we have encountered so far which is entitled to fish for tuna in these waters.

15:40: Tweetie flies again to check out another vessel which has appeared on the radar, which we think is the vessel Benny, which we encountered this morning. However, it turns out not to be Benny, but Jiln Horng 206, like the Yu I Hsiang, also a Taiwanese vessel, which is hauling in its line. Her port of registry is Koahsiang. She does not seem to need any bait or to be interested in offloading catch and heads off to the south west.

16:00: Jackie leaves without transferring any tuna and the Yu I Hsiang moves into position alongside the Hatsukari. It also takes on bait, but does not offload any tuna.

It's getting rather crowded out here in the Gulf of Guinea - yet another vessel appears on the radar. It's Jeffrey, our Belize-registered acquaintance of this morning, 5 miles away and closing, clearly intending to take over from the Yu I Hsiang at the Hatsukari's side.

18:00: We wait, but night falls before the Yu I Hsiang finishes taking on bait. She does not offload any catch. Although it's dark now, we can see the Jeffrey manoeuvre alongside the Hatsukari, because both ships are lit up.

We decide to regain our strength after such a hectic day of comings and goings, rather than undertake any night-time expeditions - we wouldn't want Tweetie (who can't fly at night) to miss out!