March 23, 2009

Greenpeace ships are on the frontlines - exposing and challenging pirate fishing vessels on the high seas, and together with your efforts in your local supermarket, we're applying pressure on all points to end this outrage.

Can you make a special donation today to support our global effort to rid our oceans and supermarkets of pirate fishing?

This last year has seen our ship crews hard at work across the oceans:

• In May our ship Esperanza freed tuna, sharks and marlin from a pirate Taiwanese commercial fishing vessel that was hauling in tens of miles of fishing line in the Pacific. We asked the captain to release the live catch. When he refused, our activists freed everything. We also branded the hull of the fishing vessel with the word "PIRATE" in red paint. After a standoff, the captain agreed to leave the international waters.

© Greenpeace / Paul Hilton

• In July our ship Arctic Sunrise exposed a pirate vessel using a driftnet in the Mediterranean Sea. The United Nations and European Union have long banned driftnets because of their high by-catch, including whales, dolphins and turtles. When detected by Greenpeace the vessel attempted to hide its registration number to avoid identification and when approached, cut their net and fled at high speed.
   

• In October Greenpeace divers in Portugal chained the propellers of four vessels with a history of pirate fishing. Hoisting banners demanding "Scrap these Pirates," Greenpeace called on the Portuguese Minister of Fisheries to ensure that they will not be able to fish again. The vessels histories include fishing without a flag or legal quota, using illegal gear and multiple identities, and other breaches of international regulations.

Pirate fishing can be stopped. It's a multi-billion dollar business that leaves communities without much needed food and income and the marine environment smashed and empty. Governments can refuse entry to fishing and supply vessels and supermarket seafood buyers can insist that vessels, suppliers and brokers provide proof that the seafood is legal. We need the political and corporate will to enforce regulations to protect the marine environment and the communities that depend upon it.