Sea Shepherd chases Chinese drift netters

Shortly after launching its new campaign last week dubbed Operation Driftnet, the Australian conservation groups Sea Shepherd has engaged a fleet of six illegal Chinese drift netters in the remote Indian Ocean.

Under the command of Captain Siddharth Chakravarty (pictured in the images hereabouts), the Sea Shepherd's steel ship Steve Irwin announced it had engaged in a pursuit of one of the poacher's ships, the Fu Yuan YU 076. See the latest pursuit video here...

Where this ends-up and how it plays out is anyone’s guess. Taking on the Chinese on the high seas will be a challenging mission. But it’s one that deserves international support and the Chinese have a very poor fisheries reputation. Drift nets are indiscriminate killers and long since banned from our international waters.

Just last week, Argentina's coastguard chased, fired and sank a Chinese vessel, the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010, which it says was fishing illegally in Argentine waters. The vessel failed to respond to radio warnings, turned off its fishing lights and proceeded to flee the scene.

It was reported that "the offending ship performed manoeuvres designed to force a collision with the coastguard, putting at risk not only its own crew but coastguard personnel, who were then ordered to shoot parts of the vessel."

In 2012, Argentina captured two Chinese vessels it said had been fishing illegally for squid in its exclusive economic zone. Warning shots were fired then too.

China is the world's largest market for seafood and has the biggest long-distance fishing fleet, currently numbering more than 2000 vessels.

CHINESE DRIFT-NETTERS
The Fu Yuan YU 076. is just one of a fleet of six Chinese-flagged Fu Yuan Yu vessels found by the Steve Irwin to be fishing illegally in the Indian Ocean.

The drift netters are believed to be in breach of no less than 10 international regulations, says Sea Shepherd, whose ship Steve Irwin first intercepted the fleet engaged in illegal fishing in January 2016.

Upon seeing the Steve Irwin, the vessels ran, abandoning approximately 5km of driftnet which the crew of the Steve Irwin confiscated and brought on board. In this section of net were the bodies of 321 animals, it says.

Among the entangled catch were blue sharks, Southern bluefin tuna, pomfret, dolphin, mako shark, brown seal, broadbill swordfish, sunfish (mola mola) and albacore.

Sea Shepherd has since released shocking photographs and video of this encounter and the dead marine life entangled in the illegal nets.

The six Chinese-flagged vessels were located on the Ninety East Ridge in international waters; an area managed by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMO).

See the pirate ships, the drift netters, the 5km net retrieved by the Steve Irwin and all the dead marine life including a dolphin in this video here...

DRONES FIND POACHERS
The Steve Irwin intercepted the vessels using a combination of drone surveillance, small boat reconnaissance missions and satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) plots.

With the arrival of the Steve Irwin, the Fu Yuan Yu fleet disbanded and scattered, abandoning its poaching activity. It is the second time since January that the Sea Shepherd ship has effectively suspended the fleet’s illegal fishing operations.

Captain Chakravarty said: "Between finding the vessels first in January and now in March, we have seen a huge effort on the part of the vessels to cover up their illegality."

"They have moved their fishing grounds by 2000 nautical miles, have changed their fishing patterns and have systematically switched off their tracking devices. In spite of their evasive actions, we have managed to find them. The next goal is to shut them down permanently."

THE FU YUAN YU FLEET
The Steve Irwin first became aware of the Fu Yuan Yu vessels while en route to Antarctica for Operation Icefish 2015-16. Suspecting that the vessels were engaged in illegal activity, Captain Chakravarty launched a reconnaissance mission to document the fleet’s operations.

The documentation and evidence collection confirmed that the Fu Yuan Yu fleet’s operations involved the use of driftnets; a method of fishing that has been banned since 1992 in accordance with a United Nations Moratorium.

In all, Sea Shepherd has documented at least 10 violations perpetrated by the Fu Yuan Yu, under international and national regulations.

Captain Chakravarty has reported the vessels to the relevant authorities to begin land-based investigations into their operations.

The Steve Irwin will continue to pursue the vessels, ensuring that they cannot resume their illegal operations, while at the same time aiding state-actors in enforcing laws.

SHOCKING FOOTAGE
Sea Shepherd releases shocking footage of illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean last Wednesday March 16, 2016. Sea Shepherd’s Flagship, the Steve Irwin, was en route to the Indian Ocean to confront a killer in our oceans.

A fleet of fishing vessels is actively fishing on the high seas of the Indian Ocean using driftnets; a form of fishing banned by the United Nations in 1992 due to its indiscriminate and destructive impact.

Taking advantage of the remoteness of the region, and in the absence of law enforcement, the fleet has demonstrated a resurgence of this out-dated, outlawed practice.

Sea Shepherd has now released shocking photographs and video of the encounter, showing sharks, dolphins, seals, and multiple species of fish, including Southern bluefin tuna, all entangled and dead in the illegal nets.

OPERATION DRIFTNET
The goal of this new campaign, Operation Driftnet, is to confront the vessels while they are engaged in the act of illegal fishing, and subsequently employ direct-action techniques to shut-down their operations.

Sea Shepherd will also document the vessels and collect evidence of their operations to aid with land-based investigations. Using this combination of at-sea and on-land actions, Sea Shepherd aims to end the destructive streak of these vessels.

These violations, as listed below, are in breach of various United Nations (UN) agreements, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMO) rules and Flag-state responsibilities.

Campaign leader and Captain of the Steve Irwin, Siddharth Chakravarty said: "Driftnets were banned in 1992 by a United Nations moratorium. The nations of the world were concerned 24 years ago about the negative impact of this form of fishing. Driftnets didn’t have a place in the world’s oceans then and they don’t today. Our role is to ensure the ban is enforced."

Sea Shepherd is now in a new war on the poor practice of drift netting, which is still undertaken in remote oceans by Chinese-flagged ships.

The environment group has had some big wins in its global pursuit of illegal fishing. Last year, its Operation Toothfish put an end to the The Bandit Six. The outlaw fleet of Southern Ocean high seas poachers were  shut down and sunk, with huge fines handed down to those involved.

Follow the new campaign at opdriftnet.org and more from Sea Shepherd at www.seashepherd.org.au.