Poaching the Patagonian
Vic Williams The Uruguayan registered vessel, the Maya V, arrived in Fremantle harbour, in WA, at 9am Sunday February 1, escorted from a point in the Indian Ocean by the Australian Navy frigate Warrunga. Its cargo is estimated at 150 tonnes and initial inspection indicated Patagonian tooth fish worth around $2 million. The Maya V was captured in late January in Australia's exclusive economic zone around the remote Heard Island and MacDonald Islands by a boarding party of seven navy personnel. The vessel was put under control of a Navy steaming party, accompanied by Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) officers for the 3000 kilometre passage to Fremantle. The vessel is suspected of illegal fishing and AFMA will investigate. The Maya V's vessel-monitoring system was not operating correctly and its position was 2000 nautical miles off course. The Maya V had a crew of 41 — Uruguayan, Chilean, plus workers from other South American countries and Spain — as well as a Uruguayan government observer on board. It is believed to be Uruguayan registered and owned with Spanish connections. One or two of the crew may have been previously apprehended. The maximum fine for individuals is $550,000, confiscation of the vessel and the catch and a possible jail term. The crew will be held at Leeuwin Barracks until the outcome of the case. The vessel has been recently fitted with sophisticated radar. A source from the Coalition of Legal Tooth Fish Operators (COLTA) believe the vessel was seen previously in Walvis Bay, Namibia, and had a major refit in Galicia, northern Spain last year. He claimed that such equipment, used to detect approaching vessels, advertised their illegal intent. He believes it is better sunk as a dive wreck than sold only to end up back in the hands of poachers. It is believed that illegal fishing in the past took 10,000- 14,000 tonnes of fish per year and reduced the catch by 1000 tonnes per annum for the last five years. Martin Exel of COLTA said that one illegal long line pulled in 60 percent non-target fish. Fisheries Management requires that if a trawl catches more than 10 percent non-target fish the vessel must to move to new ground. A new AFMA ice-capable vessel will be deployed in the region in the new financial year to combat illegal fishing. International implications Countries that have exhausted their fisheries re-flag the ships to plunder fisheries in distant oceans. The Mediterranean cannot support the trawling fleets of the past. French, Russian and Spanish vessels can be assigned to flags of convenience and deployed in remote regions to fish unethically, raping the habitat. The reference to Uruguayan ownership with Spanish connections, using Uruguayan flags and the Namibian port, points to an international conspiracy. The Maya V is a typical Japanese or Taiwanese-built long-liner. The cod and other fisheries have collapsed; Canadian and British ship owners must be very tempted. The fisheries of Japan, China, Taiwan and the Philippines are in serious trouble. The Federal Government trumpeted the "capture" of the fishing vessel as "further proof of the determination of the Australian Government in protecting the nation's sovereignty." Yet Australia's sovereignty is being dished up on a plate to the US via military bases, missile shields, electronic surveillance, free trade agreements, economic and cultural imperialism.