CANBERRA, Australia (9 Sep 2002) -- Australia has begun a campaign against international pirates plundering its declining stocks of Antarctic fish. Naval patrols, diplomatic pressure, United Nations actions and legal sanctions are being marshaled against long-range, high-tech trawlers illegally taking about $200 million worth of Patagonian toothfish from subantarctic seas. The succulent fish, marketed in the United States as Chilean sea bass, is the center of a high-seas war between poachers and fishing patrols in the remote waters between Antarctica, Australia and South Africa. The future of the fish, as a species and a sustainable resource, is the focus of growing international concern and action to be discussed at trade and conservation conferences this year. Typical of the conflict is the odyssey of the Eternal, a pirate trawler with many identities and mysterious owners. Its last illegal catch of the fish, valued at $275,000 and destined for American restaurants, was confiscated by officials in Boston. Previously known as Arvisa, Camouco and Kombott, the vessel was intercepted in July near Kerguelen, a glacier-scarred French island possession about 2,500 miles off South Africa. This week the vessel, believed to be Spanish-owned, was ordered forfeited by a French court. Its Spanish officers were fined a total of 250,000 euros ($247,925). The vessel will be offered for sale to licenced fishing companies or scuttled by the French Navy which, with Australian and South African patrols, is pursuing the flags-of-convenience poachers. The crew members — mostly Asians — were repatriated at the owner's expense. The trawler had been camouflaged since 1999 by name changes, quick coats of paint and frequent switches of registration and flags from Panama to Uruguay to Mauritania and the Netherlands Antilles, and usually commanded by Spanish officers. It is typical of the 20 trawlers illegally fishing remote polar waters. The United States Department of Commerce and the Customs Service, responding to intelligence reports from Australian diplomats, recently seized four illicit shipments of Chilean sea bass totaling more than 100 tons in Boston; Newark; Los Angeles; and New Bedford, Mass. The Department of Commerce says "illegal harvesting contributes to depletion of valuable resources." The cargoes are valued at about $800,000 wholesale and about four times as much at retail and restaurant levels. Australia is lobbying for the fish, which can grow over 50 years to 6 feet long and 200 pounds, to be listed as an endangered species by the United Nations, and for full compliance with the rules of a 29-member nation treaty drawn up to conserve Antarctic marine resources. Australia has captured at least three pirate trawlers in its Antarctic economic zone this year. French patrols have seized 15 in the last three years. One of the trawlers, the 150-foot Russian-flagged Volga, was detained in a freezing storm by Australian commandos working from helicopters. The vessel and $1 million in cargo were seized, and the fines could amount to $250,000. Lawyers for the Volga's Asian owners plan to challenge the confiscation of the vessel and catch. In the case of a sister ship, the Lena, intercepted in the same economic zone claimed by Australia, her Spanish officers pleaded guilty. They were fined a total of $56,000 and forfeited their $400,000 catch and their $1 million vessel, believed to be controlled by a Taiwanese company. South Africa, another nation with fishing interests in the far southern waters, also pursues poachers. Last year its navy ferried an Australian Special Forces squad to capture a Togo-registered, Spanish-owned pirate trawler with a $750,000 catch. According to Australian officials here, the main pirates and fish traders have corporate and operational links to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Spain and Indonesia. "We try to follow the paper trails, but there are veils of corporate secrecy to disguise identities," a senior Australian diplomat said. Another Australian official said, "To put it plainly, we are up against organized crime, bureaucrats versus big business." Australia estimates that 13,750 tons of the fish valued at about $100 million wholesale were poached from its Antarctic economic zone last year. Licensed fishers there took about 1,650 tons, a quota based on estimates of what the stocks can sustain. Conservationists say 80 percent of all catches of the fish are illegal, and overfishing could drive the species to extinction. | | Some restaurants in New York and other American cities have stopped serving the fish at the request of conservationists, but elsewhere it is still on menus, as in Japan's sushi bars. SOURCE - Fishbase, ASOCENDANGERED SPECIES - Patagonian Toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides (marketed as Chilean sea bass) | Many environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on all fishing for Patagonian toothfish. Patagonian toothfish was virtually unknown until Chilean fishers caught a specimen in the deep waters in the Southern Oceans off Chile in 1982. Patagonian toothfish (appearing on menus as Chilean sea bass) quickly became a sensation in high-end restaurants. Toothfish's popularity escalated after the crash of two other fish species: the orange roughy and the North Pacific black cod. Patagonian toothfish are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing as they can live as long as 80 years and don't reproduce until they are 8-10 years old. Their slow recruitment rate makes it nearly impossible to recover from over-fishing. Since 1991, there has been limited legal fishing of the Patagonian toothfish. However, in recent years, illegal and unregulated fishing has skyrocketed and the estimated illegal catch is at least 2-3 times the legal limit. Whales may be affected by its decrease in population since toothfish is part of their diet, and they suffer from harassment by pirate fishers. The total catch and individual size of the Patagonian toothfish has decreased dramatically while the price has increased to US $10.00 per kilogram. Pirate Fishing After just two years of pirate fishing of Patagonian toothfish around Crozet Island –southeast of South Africa – the fishery reached the point of commercial extinction. If pirate fishing continues at its current rate, scientists estimate that the Patagonian toothfish could be commercially extinct in less than two to five years. Legitimate fishers who follow international rules established to ensure the sustainability of the fishery will lose their livelihoods. Scientists estimate that pirate fishers kill more than 100,000 albatrosses and petrels each year in the Southern Ocean; the birds dive for the bait, become hooked on the gear and drown. Twenty species of albatross are found in the Southern Ocean and all 20 are endangered. More than 80% of the total Patagonian toothfish catch – with an estimated value of US$500 million – is caught by pirate fishers who do not abide by international catch limits, nor do they take precautions to prevent bird mortality. Toothfish Moratorium The moratorium will be lifted when the following requirements are met: The IUU toothfish fishing has been brought under control; The necessary biological and demographic information on the stock or stocks is available (including especially information on stock structure, spawning grounds, and recruitment) from dedicated scientific research programmes conducted by national agencies or under their direct control; A trade system is in place which provides independent verification of the source of the catch (this should include developing the Catch Documentation Scheme –CDS- into a verifiable catch certification scheme under CCAMLR); and The incidental catches of albatross and petrels are essentially eliminated. |
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