Saving Seafood

African Court Convicts Captain of Renegade Ship in Illegal Fishing Case

October 12, 2015 — WASHINGTON — A São Tomé and Príncipe court on Monday convicted the captain of a fishing ship, the Thunder, and two crew members on several charges tied to illegal fishing, a prosecutor in the case said. The verdict was the culmination of a dramatic, 10,000-mile chase from Antarctica to the Gulf of Guinea.

The Thunder, which had been on Interpol’s most-wanted list, was spotted last year poaching fish in Antarctic waters and was chased by an environmental group, Sea Shepherd, for more than 110 days until it sank in early April off São Tomé and Príncipe, a West African island state. Prosecutors from São Tomé and Príncipe and Sea Shepherd officials speculated that the Thunder’s captain had sunk the ship on purpose to dispose of evidence.

“This isn’t just a victory for our country,” said Frederique Samba Viegas D’Abreu, the attorney general of São Tomé and Príncipe. “It’s a victory for the oceans and against these international crime syndicates that have operated for too long above the law.

The chase highlighted the lack of policing on the high seas and the rarity of bringing well-documented maritime scofflaws to justice. Documents seized from the Thunder shortly before it sank were sent to Germany and prompted investigations across Europe whose scope includes companies in Spain, where the ship’s owners are said to be based, according to Interpol officials.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Applaud US and Russia

September 11, 2015 — The following was released by the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers:

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Applaud US and Russia for Historic Cooperation to Combat Illegal, Unregulated, & Unreported (IUU) Fishing

Portland, Oregon- Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC) is pleased to announce the signing of a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russia to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The agreement was signed earlier today as part of the 26th U.S.- Russia Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on Fisheries meeting. This agreement has been several years in the making and signifies a new era of cooperation between the two nations in combating Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing.

ABSC President Edward Poulsen issued the following statement: “For far too many years the Alaskan crab industry has faced stiff market competition from illegally harvested Russian king crab. The blatant poaching on the Russian side has impacted not only Alaskan crab fishermen and Alaskan coastal communities, but also legitimate Russian producers and Russian citizens. We welcome this historic agreement and are hopeful that it will result in meaningful action being taken to halt this illegal activity.”

Today’s agreement includes provisions for increased coordination and cooperation between our two nations and should improve the ability for US customs agents to detect illegal crab shipments into the US as well as aid in the investigation and eventual prosecution of suspected criminals. The Alaskan crab industry has lost an estimated $600 million in revenue since 2000 due to illegally harvested Russian crab. In addition, Alaskan coastal communities have also lost millions more in tax revenue. As such, the agreement has broad support from within the industry.

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC) is a seafood industry trade association representing more than 70% of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab harvesters. ABSC is involved in regulatory issues, scientific research, marketing, and advocating for the safety of life at sea for Alaska’s crab fishermen.

 

 

Nestle accused of using illegally-caught fish in cat food

August 28, 2015 — NEW YORK — Swiss food giant Nestle is being sued in the United States for allegedly knowingly allowing its Fancy Feast cat food to contain fish from a Thai supplier that uses slave labor.

Pet food buyers who filed the class action lawsuit on Thursday in US federal court in Los Angeles seek to represent all California consumers of Fancy Feast who would not have purchased the product had they known it had ties to slave labor.

According to the lawsuit, Nestle works with Thai Union Frozen Products PCL to import more than 28 million pounds (13 million kilograms) of seafood-based pet food for top brands sold in the United States, and that some of the ingredients in those products came from slave labor.

Men and boys, often trafficked from Thailand’s poorer neighbors Myanmar and Cambodia, are sold to fishing boat captains who need crews aboard their ship, the complaint said.

Read the full story at AFP