The
story of the one that didn't get away (and
the turtle that did!)
07 May 2008 - International — Just a few
days into our three-month “Defending Our
Mediterranean” tour, and already the Arctic
Sunrise has come face-to-face with pirates.
In the early hours of the morning, we confiscated
almost two kilometres of illegal driftnet,
containing dead, undersized bluefin tuna
- and a small sea turtle.
Moving through Greek
Ionian waters towards Sicily, the Arctic
Sunrise passed a small drifting boat. Its
crew had tried to stop their boat from being
identified by covering its name and registration
number; not something you’d think of doing
unless you were obviously up to no good!
Fortunately for us, we never go anywhere
without a photographer with a camera and
a high-powered telescopic lens! Confirming
that it was the Italian fishing vessel Diomede
II, we checked the EU’s database of fishing
vessels; it is licensed only to fish within
15 miles (approximately 24 kilometres) of
the Sicilian coast, and then only with longline
or anchored nets. The Diomede II was some
50 kilometres from the coast – and, with
the seabed being 1500 metres down, we knew
they couldn’t be using anchored nets and
could only be fishing with driftnets. So,
the Arctic Sunrise’s crew set to work -
and managed to haul in almost two kilometres
of the driftnet.
Known as “walls of death”, driftnets catch
everything that crosses their path, including
protected species such as whales, dolphins
and turtles. They’ve been banned for years
by the United Nations, the European Union,
the International Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas (ICCAT) and the General Fisheries
Commission for the Mediterranean. Of course,
for bans to be effective they have to be
enforced. Despite the European Commission
proposing laws to blacklist fishing vessels
involved in illegal practices, Italy and
other Member States are trying to water
these down. Although the authorities confiscate
hundreds of kilometres of illegal driftnet
every year, fleets from Italy and other
Mediterranean countries are still fishing
illegally.
And the problem isn’t
restricted to the Mediterranean. At the
same time as the crew of the Arctic Sunrise
are busy Defending Our Mediterranean, on
the other side of the world the crew of
the Esperanza are busy Defending Our Pacific.
They’ve been bearing witness and taking
action against purse seine and longline
vessels. They’ve been doing their own bit
of turtle rescuing, as well as freeing lots
of other marine life from inevitable death
on the longlines. And they’re also finding
that international laws are being regularly
flouted because little is being done to
enforce them.
That’s why we’re calling
for a global network of marine reserves,
covering 40 percent of our seas and oceans,
including the Mediterranean and the Pacific:
Marine reserves will
close off high seas areas currently used
as loopholes by pirate fishers;
Marine reserves are vital to ensure that
fish stocks recover;
Marine reserves are essential to ensure
that the fishing industry has a sustainable
future;
Marine reserves will also protect our seas
and oceans from the ravages of climate change
and protect ocean life from habitat collapse
and destruction.
We’ve followed the Diomede II back home
to its harbour in Sicily, where it is being
met by the coastguard – we’ve asked for
the driftnets still on board to be confiscated.
Quite some homecoming for the pirates (though
probably not the sort they were hoping for!).
And, in the meantime,
while it was too late to do anything for
the tuna trapped in the driftnet we confiscated,
the baby turtle managed to make it out alive!
So we’re happy to say that, somewhere in
the Mediterranean, there’s at least one
baby turtle who’s had the chance to head
back home, too.
Updated, 8 May
2008: We're happy to report that the coastguard
has confiscated the Diomede II's driftnets!
It was a long day for the crew of the Arctic
Sunrise - and they'll keep on going; fishing
out the Pirates of the Mediterranean and
denouncing, exposing and stopping illegal
fishing.
