14 March 2006 - Rostock,
Germany — So you own five illegal trawlers
called the Oyra, Ostroe, Okhotino, Olchan
and Ostrovets. Things aren't looking good
for you when in 2005, your boats are involved
in the collapse of the fish stocks of the
North Atlantic. Sounds like you need a change
of identity. You rename your fleet like
a Spanish chorus line: Eva, Junita, Rosita,
Isabella and Carmen. Then for good measure
you change their nationality from Dominica
(a tiny island in the Caribbean) to Georgia
(former Soviet state on the Black Sea).
You've changed your boats "flag of
convenience" three times in the last
five years, in 2002 changing your flag from
Russia to Cyprus, deciding in 2004 you prefer
the colours of Dominica.
Now you fly the flag of choice for pirate
fishing vessels - Georgia. And of course,
when your boats aren't plundering the high
seas, destroying deep sea life and stealing
fish from some of the poorest countries
in the world, they're docked in Rostock
harbour, Germany.
Being blacklisted for repeatedly engaging
in pirate fishing in the North Atlantic
means that European ports cannot supply
your ships with fuel, provisions or any
other services, you cannot sell your fish
and cannot charter your boats. Which is
strange because you are currently docked
in a German harbour, preparing to head back
out to plunder our oceans.
We're afraid that a change of name and
flag can't hide your true colours. That's
why we've locked up four of these illegal
fishing boats in Rostock harbour and handed
the keys to the responsible regional and
federal ministers. We want the German government
to prevent these pirate fishing vessels
leaving port.
Update - The One That Didn't Get Away
Under cover of darkness, the fifth vessel
in the blacklisted fleet sneaked away to
Poland. Activists have paid a visit to the
Carmen, in the port of Swinoujscie, wrapping
it in chains and hanging a banner that reads
"Stop Pirate Fishing".
The Carmen is currently in dry dock, presumably
in preparation for another bout of pirate
fishing. As in Germany, where the sister
vessels were illegally re-supplied, the
Polish government are so far ignoring their
obligation to prevent the Carmen from re-supplying,
despite its being blacklisted for repeated
breaches of European, north east and north
west Atlantic fishing regulations.
"The fact that the German government
allows known pirate fishing vessels to set
sail is incredible," says Andrea Cederquist,
marine biologist at Greenpeace Germany.
"Knowing these ships are leaving port
without making sure they will keep to international
fishery agreements in future is unacceptable."
Pirate fishing vessels are an enormous
problem, particularly on the high seas and
in the coastal waters of developing countries.
They steal fish - often the staple food
- from some of the poorest countries in
the world and destroy the livelihoods of
fishermen who live there.
These trawlers have set their sights on
either plundering the rich fishing waters
off the coast of West Africa (Mauritania)
or going farther afield to trawl the depths
of the Pacific. Both are regions where proper
controls are lacking and pirate fishing
is flourishing.
Pirate fisheries are estimated to cost
countries between US$4-9 billion each year.
They also wipe-out the unknown worlds of
the deep-sea. Many pirate vessels are engaged
in a fishing technique called bottom trawling
which is known to cause huge destruction
to vulnerable deep-sea marine life such
as cold water corals.
Flags of convenience
Flags of convenience allow a vessel to
fish virtually anywhere on the high seas
with impunity. Pirates buy flags of convenience
from "open registries" that have
few or no limitations on accepting foreign
vessels and make little pretence of any
genuine link to the vessel. These registries
offer a loophole around many regulations.
Initially, companies and individuals took
advantage of flags of convenience to evade
tax and/or reduce safety requirements, tariffs,
labour requirements and other shipping regulations.
However, as regional fisheries management
organisations developed, unscrupulous fishing
vessel owners began to reflag under flags
of convenience to avoid fishing regulations
or limitations on catch.
Because these flag states do not usually
belong to regional fisheries management
organisations, they are not bound by their
decisions and regulations. Therefore, they
allow pirates flying their flags to continue
their destructive activities.
Flags for sale
Obtaining a flag of convenience is as easy
and quick as a few taps on the keyboard.
Any notion of genuine link is cynically
put aside for a few dollars and registration
is sometimes provided within 24 hours.
Over the next few months, in partnership
with the Environmental Justice Foundation,
our ship the Esperanza will expose how fishing
pirates in the Atlantic are wiping out marine
life and destroying the livelihoods of the
communities dependent on our oceans for
food.
So what needs to be done to stop this?
Our Oceans Campaigner Sari Tolvanen thinks
governments should put their money where
their mouth is – and now. “They need to
stop these boats from leaving port and support
a UN moratorium on high seas bottom trawling.
This would send a signal to pirates that
their days of plundering the oceans are
over,” she said.
