GREENPEACE DISRUPTS TRANSHIPMENT OF ILLEGALLY-CAUGHT TUNA

6 May 2000

CENTRAL EAST ATLANTIC/AMSTERDAM -- Greenpeace today disrupted a transhipment of tuna caught by the Belize-flagged pirate vessel Jackie 11 in the waters of the Central Atlantic, 400 miles west of Luanda (Angola). The environmental group provided visual evidence of unregulated and unreported fishing operations going on despite the stringent regulations set up by the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

At 10h15 CET, the MV Greenpeace caught the Jackie 11 (flagged in Belize, a notorious flag of convenience country, FOC, (1) and owned by SEVEN SEAS S.A./Singapore) attempting to tranship its catch of tuna onboard the Hatsukary, a Panama-flagged and Japan-owned reefer/cargo vessel. The Jackie 11 is part of a fleet of pirate fishing vessels operating in the Atlantic Ocean catching bigeye and bluefin tuna, swordfish and other "migratory" species. Longline fishing is known to involve the bycatch of sharks, sea turtles and other species.

"The Hatsukary must stop servicing flag of convenience vessels such as the Jackie 11. These reefers only allow pirate-fishing activities to continue unabated and help pirate vessels to avoid port control measures. Pirate fishing is a threat to marine resources and undermines ICCAT conservation measures. It must stop immediately", said Helene Bours, Greenpeace campaigner onboard the MV Greenpeace. (2)

The Hatsukary left Cape Town (South Africa) on the 28th April and is bound for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). Both harbours are known to be favourite landing harbours for pirate vessels. In order to counter the more stringent rules imposed on fishing activities to protect endangered stocks, many unscrupulous fishing companies re-flag their vessels in countries who sell their flags with no questions asked. In this way, they can continue to over-exploit fish stocks and evade international control.

Greenpeace has coined the phrase "pirate fishing" to describe this increasing global phenomenon. Pirates operate the world over, from Antarctic oceans to the Mediterranean Sea, from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific. They move from fishery to fishery taking as much fish as they can pull onboard. They don't care about what impacts, direct or indirect, they have on fish stocks or any other marine species caught or tangled in their fishing gear. Greenpeace estimates that there are over 1,300 flag of convenience vessels fishing worldwide. The four top FOC countries - Belize, Honduras, Panama, St. Vincent and the Grenadines - count for over 1,100 of these vessels.

"Both vessels are clearly breaking ICCAT rules. Under international law, the flag state had the primary responsibility to take enforcement action against fishing and support vessels breaking the rules on the high seas. Greenpeace is calling on the governments of Belize and Panama to confiscate this cargo when it reaches port and take enforcement action against the companies involved. In addition, Greenpeace is calling on countries in the region, in particular Spain and other members of the European Union, to deny both vessels permission to off-load their fish. Japan has a responsibility to ensure that the company which owns the reefer abides by the rules as well", added Bours.

Pirate fishing continues to be a threat to fish and other marine species worldwide, despite the strict control measures adopted by international bodies such as ICCAT. Greenpeace is calling on the European Union and other governments to:

· close its ports to FOC vessels and fisheries-related support and transport vessels, · close its market to FOC-caught fish, · close EU-based companies which owned or operated FOC fishing vessels and fisheries-related support and transport vessels.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Helene Bours, Greenpeace International on board the MV Greenpeace, satellite phone +871 62 44 53 210 (USD10 per minute)
- Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Communications, mobile +31 6 21 29 69 20

Footage +31 6 535 04 721 and stills +31 6 53 81 91 21

Stills available from:
www.greenpeace.org/library/picturedesk.html

(1) Top 10 countries where the owner companies of the FOC flagged vessels are based (Country of 'Beneficial Ownership'). Country/No. of FOC Vessels owned by companies based in country

Taiwan 169

European Union* 168

Belize 145

Panama 121

Honduras 109

Singapore 62

South Korea 52

Japan 41

China 37

Equatorial Guinea 36

Lloyd's Maritime Information Services 1999.

*Spain/Canary Islands (116), Portugal (12), Greece (11), UK (10), Denmark (4), France (4), Ireland (4), Netherlands (3), Italy (2), Finland (1), Sweden (1).

(2) ICCAT Recommendation 97-11 on transhipments and vessel-sightings, which came into force on 13 June 1998 states:

Article 1 - "Contracting parties [IN THIS CASE PANAMA] shall ensure that fishing vessel and mother vessel flying their flag [THE MV HATSUKARI] only transfer or receive at-sea transhipment of ICCAT species from Contracting Parties and Cooperating Parties, Entities or Fishing Entities [IE. NOT THE FISHING VESSELS ABOVE]... Such transhipment activities shall be reported annually to the Commission".

ICCAT Recommendation 98-11 concerning the ban on landing and transhipments of vessels from non-contracting parties identified as having committed a serious infringement, which entered into force on 21 June 1999, states:

Article 1 - "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"