September
12, 2017
East Timor (Timor
Leste), Southeast Asia - A joint operation conducted at dawn on September
9th by the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd Global and the East
Timor National Police (PNTL - Policia Nacional Timor-Leste) resulted in
the capture of the Hong Long Fisheries / Pingtan Marine Enterprises fishing
fleet at anchor off the coast of Com, East Timor.
At
the request of the PNTL, Sea Shepherd's patrol vessel M/Y Ocean Warrior and
its small fast boat delivered armed police to board the vessels, along with
drones to document the operation. Once the vessels were secured by the PNTL,
Sea Shepherd crew members assisted in documenting the catch onboard, confirming
suspicions that the fleet were targeting sharks as opposed to broad scale
fishing.
After
hunting for the fleet of fifteen vessels for the past two weeks, the Ocean
Warrior found them 150km south of East Timor, fishing with anchored gill
nets set to target bottom dwelling species such as sharks. Sea Shepherd
documented the vessels retrieving their nets and the catch appeared to be 95%
sharks, as well as lots of broken coral.
Ties
to the Vessel Arrested in Galapagos Last Month
The
same fleet were documented in East Timor in February offloading
massive quantities of sharks to a mothership, the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999
(http://videos.sapo.tl/4EnZZpzQwiazVtRmDjrG). Though there was a public outcry,
little to no action was taken. The Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 made international
headlines last month when it was detained inside the Galapagos National
Park with 300 tons of sharks which it had received from four longliners
belonging to Hong Long Fisheries and Pingtan Marine Enterprises.
The crew of the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 are now in an Ecuadorian jail and the ship
impounded, scheduled to be sold off.
The
company who owns the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999, Hong Long Fisheries, also owns the 15
vessels operating in East Timor, although Pingtan Marine Enterprises,
listed on the US Nasdaq, have announced to their shareholders that they also
own the 15 vessels and licenses operating in East Timor. The fishing
companies have a complex, intertwined relationship, both based in Fuzhou,
China and owned by the Zhou families. Pingtan was kicked out of Indonesia by
Fisheries Minister Susi Prudjiastuti in 2014, and so far have not
been allowed to return.
Sea
Shepherd's East Timor Campaign
With
public calls from people in East Timor claiming they have no way of
knowing what the fleet are up to out of sight of land, Sea Shepherd decided to
send the Ocean Warrior on a reconnaissance mission to gather and document
evidence. This evidence was handed over to the authorities and people of East
Timor in hopes that they may be able to cancel future licenses that are
being seriously abused.
During
the September 9thinspections, an entire catalogue of images and documentation
has been formed and shared with PNTL and other authorities. Campaign Leader and
Sea Shepherd Global's Director for Asia, Gary Stokes, also met today
with East Timor's former Prime Minister/President and Noble
Peace Winner, Dr. José Ramos-Horta:
"Unscrupulous
foreign commercial fishing activities must be stopped in Timor Leste,"
said Dr. Ramos-Horta. "We must protect our natural resources, it is
an outrage."
At
the time of this media release the Ocean Warrior is currently monitoring the
fleet that are now at anchor near Vemasse on the north coast awaiting
refueling. Sea Shepherd fears that the fleet will be allowed to escape again
due to high levels deals being struck to release them by corrupt officials. "Sadly
the good work of the PNTL and Sea Shepherd will be in vain and these ocean
terrorists will dodge justice once more," says Gary Stokes.
Driftnet
Violations and Poaching Vessels
Sea
Shepherd also found a second fleet of three vessels owned by Hong Dong Pelagic
Fisheries fishing illegally in the same area. Although they had a license
granted by East Timor, they were found deploying more than 2x10km of
driftnet from each vessel, significantly bigger than the 2.5km maximum
allowance set by international law. Sea Shepherd will be filing a full report
of its findings to the flag state of these vessels as well as Interpol,
CITES, IOTC and other relevant authorities.
Last
year one of Sea Shepherd's vessels came across six illegal drift netters in the Indian
Ocean and requested China's assistance in bringing these
privately-owned poaching operations to justice. China, who takes IUU
fishing very seriously, opened an investigation immediately and recalled the
vessels for inspection. "They found three of the six to have been
illegally fishing, prosecuted the company, and cancelled the captains'
licenses," says Gary Stokes. "We hope that China will
take the same stern action with these illegal vessels."
-----
Article
on Sea Shepherd Global
website: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/latest-news/dawn-raid-east-timor/
Additional
hi-res images and video
reels: https://minerva.seashepherdglobal.org/share.cgi?ssid=0Jc6gWY
For
media interviews contact:
Gary
Stokes - Campaign Leader onboard the Ocean Warrior
Sat Phone: +881-677-752109
Email: gary@seashepherdglobal.org
Sat Phone: +881-677-752109
Email: gary@seashepherdglobal.org
For
images or video footage contact:
Heather
Stimmler - Sea Shepherd Global Media Director
Tel +339 7719 7742
Email: heather@seashepherdglobal.org
Tel +339 7719 7742
Email: heather@seashepherdglobal.org
Sea
Shepherd Global
Sea
Shepherd is an international non-profit marine conservation movement using
innovative tactics and direct action to defend, conserve and protect the worlds
oceans and marine wildlife. Founded by Paul Watson in 1977, today Sea
Shepherd is a worldwide movement with independent national and regional
entities in over 20 countries. With the exception of the US-based Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), they are united by a common mission
through Sea Shepherd Global, based in Amsterdam, which coordinates
communications, logistics and a fleet of five ships to cooperate on campaigns
around the world. Sea Shepherd investigates and documents violations of
international and national conservation law, and enforces conservation measures
where legal authority exists. For more information, visit:
http://www.seashepherdglobal.org/
http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/r/breaking-news--fishing-fleet-caught-red-handed-in-a-dawn-raid-by-sea-shepherd-and-east-timor-nationa,c2344992
http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/i/170909-opt-jp-ocean-warrior-ocean-warrior-and-fu-yuan-yu-fleet12-img-7995-1200,c2219462
http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/i/170910-opt-jp-ocean-warrior-shark-pile1-img-8361-1200,c2219463
http://news.cision.com/sea-shepherd-global/i/170910-opt-jp-ocean-warrior-shark-pile1-img-8317-1200,c2219464
(c)
2017 Cision. All rights reserved., source Press Releases - English
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