GREENPEACE CALLS FOR TOUGH SANCTIONS ON SPANISH-OWNED PIRATE FISHING VESSEL CAUGHT RED HANDED AGAIN

31 May 2001

Amsterdam - Greenpeace today called for Spain to take strong action against Spanish pirate fishing boats after France arrested a pirate fishing vessel previously caught fishing illegally for Chilean seabass (Patagonian toothfish) by Australian authorities and by Greenpeace (1) in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. The French Navy has escorted the fishing boat, previously called the Salvora and now renamed the Castor, to the Indian Ocean island of Reunion where the vessel's representatives will appear before a French court tomorrow.

On the eve of the court hearing, Greenpeace calls on the Spanish government to implement laws to strip the vessel's Spanish captains of their licences under new national legislation designed to curb continued Spanish ownership of pirate fishing vessels (2). The Castor's fishing master is a repeat offender. He was convicted and fined AUS $100,000 by an Australian court after Australia arrested the same vessel in 1997.

"Spain must now get tough on its nationals' continued plunder of Antarctic marine life," said Greenpeace International fisheries campaigner Desley Mather. "With this being the third time they've been caught out in four years, the owners of the Castor clearly believe that they can fish on with impunity. As a member of the international organisation charged with conserving toothfish, the European Union must demand that Spain act responsibly and bring pirate fishing by Spanish interests to an end."

The Castor's beneficial owners are based in Galicia, Spain [3] although their vessel flies the flag of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, a notorious flag of convenience.

Pirate fishing is rife in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Fishing companies such as the Spanish owners of the Castor buy flags of convenience from countries such as Belize, Panama, Honduras, Seychelles, Vanuatu and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines to avoid international fishing rules and any control of their activities by their home countries. Most fishing boats arrested for fishing illegally in recent years have involved Spanish nationals.

The Secretary General of the United Nations has called the prevalence of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing "one of the most severe problems currently affecting world fisheries". The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a series of resolutions calling on countries to exercise control over the activities of fishing vessels flying their flag. In March of this year, 114 nations agreed to an International Plan of Action of Action to combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. Among other things, they stressed the need to impose sanctions of sufficient severity to deter pirate fishing vessels from illegal fishing and deprive them of the benefits of their fishing [4].

Prized in US, Japanese and European markets, toothfish populations have been brought to the brink of collapse in the six years since pirate longliners began fishing. In just a few years, the toothfish stocks around Prince Edward Island and Marion Islands were fished close to commercial extinction. An estimated 330,000 seabirds, including endangered species of albatross, have been caught and killed as bycatch in four years by pirate fishing vessels.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Desley Mather, Greenpeace Fisheries Campaigner (in Ireland), mobile + 61 438 837 138
Hélène Bours, Greenpeace Fisheries Campaigner (in Belgium) +32 844 77177
Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace Press Desk (in the Netherlands), mobile +31 6 21 29 69 20
Interviews available in English, French, and Spanish.

(1) In 1999, Greenpeace caught the Castor (then called Salvora) fishing illegally in French waters around the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Island and then chased it for 16 days to Mauritius. The Mauritius Supreme Court upheld a decision by the government to deny the vessel permission to land its catch on that occasion. However, the vessel has since resumed landing its pirate-caught catch there.

(2) This year, Spain has adopted new fisheries law that, once implemented, could result in revoking the licenses of Spanish nationals working as masters on foreign fishing vessels found guilty of illegal fishing.

(3) Following investigations, Greenpeace believes that the real (beneficial) ownership of the vessel is: Manuel and Jose Abal of Consignataria Beiramar Head Office: Miguel Henriquez 31, Moana, Pontevedra, Spain.

(4) Paragraph 21 of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation's International Plan of Action to deter, prevent and eliminate IUU fishing: "States should ensure that sanctions for IUU fishing by vessels and, to the greatest extent possible, nationals under its jurisdiction are of sufficient severity to effectively prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing and to deprive offenders of the benefits accruing from such fishing."