Hunt on for rogue fishers in Australian Antarctic waters as Interpol, Sea Shepherd join search

    BRUCE MOUNSTER
    Mercury
    January 17, 2015


INTERPOL and Sea Shepherd activists have joined the hunt for a trio of pirate fishing vess­els flying false flags which are running amok in Australian Antarctic waters.   

Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson yesterday said the ships appeared to be just outside Australian territorial waters, southeast of Macquarie Island.

He said it was time for the Australian Government to step in.

“It’s crunch time, we’re being scrutinised by the international community and by the organised crime gangs who profit from these illegal and destructive fishing activities,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“There’s no better time than now for this Government to uphold its election promise and send a patrol vessel to protect Australia’s interests and to show the world Australia is ser­ious about upholding its res­ponsibilities in the Southern Ocean,” he said.   

Interpol yesterday issued a “Purple Notice” requesting the help of all 190 member nations in tracking the notorious trio after a boarding bid by the New Zealand Navy this week was thwarted by rough Southern Ocean conditions.

“The Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) vessels, which were sighted travelling together in December 2014, have all changed their names, national registration and other identifying characteristics on multiple occasions to try and avoid detection,” the inter­national police organisation said.

“Between 6 and 13 January, a Royal New Zealand Naval Patrol spotted the vessels — the Yongding, the Kunlun and the Songhua — hauling gill nets laden with toothfish in an area regulated by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources where such fishing methods are prohibited.”

The ownership of the rogue vessels is a mystery although they are reputed to be poaching endangered species in protected waters on behalf of a Spanish criminal syndicate.

Sea Shepherd announced plans to help chase the vessels on the high seas. 

Senator Whish-Wilson said Sea Shepherd was now the only deterrent to the illegal fishers, given the Australian Government had not followed through with its Southern Ocean patrols.