GREENPEACE WELCOMES TODAYS DECISION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL ON LAW OF THE SEAS TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST PIRATE FISHING

7 February 2000

HAMBURG -- Today the International Tribunal on Law of the Seas (ITLOS) issued a ruling in support of penalising pirate fishing. The ITLOS decision sends a signal to pirate vessels and Flag of Convenience (FOC) fishing countries such as Panama that, if they are caught fishing in other country's waters, they will have to pay a price.

In September 1999, the French navy arrested the Panama-flagged fishing vessel "Camouco", owned by the Spanish company Merce-Pesca, and its Spanish captain after it was spotted fishing illegally for patagonian toothfish (known as Chilean sea-bass). The Camouco was caught fishing in the waters surrounding the French island of Crozet, in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. Panama has challenged France's seizure of the Camouco claiming that the vessel and its captain have been unfairly penalised. Some 50-100 pirate vessels fish illegally in the Southern Ocean, decimating fish populations and killing up to 100,000 seabirds annually, including several species of endangered albatross, as 'bycatch'.

Greenpeace welcomed the Tribunal's decision, but at the same time is concerned that ITLOS ruled that France must immediately release the captain (who has been detained since September) and has lowered the bond posted for the release of the vessel to 8 million French Francs.

"We are pleased to see that the action taken by France has been upheld by the Law of the Sea Tribunal but we're concerned that the vessel and the captain will simply pay the fee and continue fishing illegally", said Ingo Bokermann of Greenpeace. "In addition, much of the pirate fishing takes place on the high seas of the world's oceans where neither France nor any other country can arrest these vessels. This is a fundamental failure of international law and must be corrected".

Under international law, only the flag state, or country whose flag a vessel flies, can take enforcement action against a vessel fishing illegally on the high seas. Flag of Convenience countries issue their flags for a fee and, in exchange, the vessel's owner and captain know that the country cannot or will not monitor or control the activities of the vessel. The vessel is effectively free to fish on the high seas in violation of any fisheries rules or regulations.

Pirate fishing vessels flying Flags of Convenience are a growing threat worldwide to the health of the world's oceans and marine biodiversity. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) reports that the problem is growing and Greenpeace estimates that there are some 1200 industrial fishing vessels flying flags of convenience in operation today.

Based on a review of information published by Lloyd's Maritime Service, Panama, Honduras, Belize and St Vincent and the Grenadines top the list of FOC countries as the worst offenders with approximately 1000 fishing vessels registered to fly their flag. However, other countries are responsible for the problem including the US, Japan, and the European Union, where illegally caught fish are imported with few if any restrictions and where the companies that own FOC flagged vessels are based. Japan has recently begun cracking down on the problem but the EU continues to evade its responsibility and, in fact, allows EU based fishing companies to obtain EU subsidies to register their vessels under Flags of Convenience.

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions condemning pirate fishing and the UN FAO will host a meeting in October involving some 100 countries to negotiate an international agreement to address the problem.

In order to effectively put an end to FOC fishing, Greenpeace is calling on governments to close their ports to FOC fishing vessels, close their markets to FOC caught fish, and prevent companies within their jurisdiction from owning or operating FOC vessels.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Ingo Bokermann, Greenpeace Germany, mobile +49 (0) 170 4447612
- Matthew Gianni, Greenpeace International, Tel: +31 20 52 49 546

For more information on Pirate Fishing please go here: http://www.greenpeace.org.au