The World of Money, Poaching, Subsidies, and the Law. Commentary by Captain Paul Watson It’s not easy doing Ocean Conservation work. Sea Shepherd is up against powerful economic and political forces with subsidies and the law supporting illegal activities. The chasing of the Nigerian flagged poacher “Thunder” by the “Bob Barker” and the confiscation of two illegally set gill nets set by the “Thunder” by the “Sam Simon” have been reported today in The Age (Australia) in an article by Andrew Darby. Despite the fact that the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO) has supported the intervention by Sea Shepherd, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has been hostile with executive secretary Andrew Wright saying that he expects the “legitimacy” of the operations of both the “Thunder,” and of “Sea Shepherd,” to be discussed by the organizations 25 member nations. It is ironic that Sea Shepherds actions are being supported by fishermen and criticized by conservationists. There have been serious discussions in the media by “experts” saying how Sea Shepherd could be charged with illegal fishing for pulling up the nets or Sea Shepherd could be sued for interfering with the profits of the poaching operations by the “Thunder”. When Sea Shepherd intervened against the illegal taking of Bluefin tuna by a Maltese fishing corporation off the coast of Libya in 2011, the company launched a civil suit against Sea Shepherd in the British courts which has still not been decided. A lawyer for the company stated that they would defeat Sea Shepherd by throwing money at Sea Shepherd until Sea Shepherd was destroyed. Sea Shepherd won in the lower court but the company called Fish and Fish won in the Appeal Court and now it is awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court in Britain. The Japanese received an injunction in 2012 from the U.S. Federal 9th Circuit Court ordering Sea Shepherd USA to not approach within 500 yards of any Japanese whaling vessel. Sea Shepherd USA complied with the injunction with the Southern Ocean campaigns continuing under the leadership of Sea Shepherd Australia. Despite this, Sea Shepherd USA was charged with violating the injunction by not controlling Sea Shepherd Australia’s activities, something Sea Shepherd USA has never had any power to do. This injunction remains in force despite the Japanese whaling fleet being found by the International Court of Justice to be illegal. The Japanese whalers continue to operate with huge subsidies from the Japanese government including 30 million U.S. allocated from the Tsunami Relief Fund and given to the whaling industry. And now we are finding that some of the toothfish poachers are receiving millions of Euros in subsidies through Spanish fishing companies based in Galicia. What we are finding is that there are many layers of deliberate concealment of ownerships and profits protecting these illegal operations and with profits of tens of millions of dollars or Euros they simply defend themselves with a small army of lawyers churning out punishing civil suits. The “Thunder” was detained in Malaysia last year after a joint operation by Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. It was released with its catch after paying a fine of $90,000 Australia dollars, a fraction of the $60 million in fish the “Thunder” is though to have robbed from the ocean to date. Vested interests are angry now. Not only has Sea Shepherd deprived the “Thunder” of it’s illegal catch, it has confiscated more than twenty tons of gill net and this intervention will cost the owners of the “Thunder” much more than the paltry $90,000 fine they paid to the Malaysians last year. The “Thunder” is still trying to find a port of refuge. They were heading to Maputo in Mozambique but Sea Shepherd informed the Mozambique authorities and it appears that the “Thunder” has decided to not go to Mozambique. The ship is not going anywhere at all. It is moving at about 2 knots some 1200 miles south of South Africa. The pursuit of the “Thunder” by the Bob Barker” is now entering the 18th day. Meanwhile down on the Banzare Bank, the crew of the “Sam Simon” continue the arduous task off hauling in kilometer after kilometer of illegal gill net in freezing conditions thousands of miles from any port. And as they do, the people who are charged with protecting Antarctic Marine Resources are discussing if Sea Shepherd’s efforts are “legitimate.” But as they continue to talk, the crews on both Sea Shepherd ships continue to act.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 18:03:55 +0000
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