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Australia in high-sea chase to save protected fish
Canberra, Aug 18: Australia sought international help on Monday to halt a Uruguayan ship suspected of poaching a rare, protected fish following an 11-day-old chase across rough sub-Antarctic seas.
Canberra, Aug 18: Australia sought international help on Monday to halt a Uruguayan ship suspected of poaching a rare, protected fish following an 11-day-old chase across rough sub-Antarctic seas.
Australia's fisheries patrol ship, Southern Supporter, has been pursuing the fishing vessel Viarsa since August 7, when it was first spotted in the Heard and McDonald island fisheries zone, 2,200 nautical miles southwest of Australia.
But with the chase continuing, Australia sought help from South Africa and several other nations to stop the boat with a suspected catch of Patagonian Toothfish, a sought-after delicacy found in Australia's Southern Ocean waters near Antarctica.
"The pursuit is continuing. We will not be giving up," said a spokesman for Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald.
"South Africa has expressed a willingness to help us and we are working with other countries, too, to stop this boat," he added, declining to give further details.
Macdonald's office said the suspected toothfish pirates and their Australian pursuer were reported late on Monday to be 1,200 nautical miles south of Cape Town.
South Africa has offered to help as its helicopter-equipped Antarctic supply ship the MV Agulhas is nearby.
Tjaart Steyn, first secretary at the South African High Commission in Canberra, said two Australian officials flew to Cape Town at the weekend to help coordinate the operation.
"We will be deciding today what form of action to take and you can expect something to happen shortly," Steyn told newspersons.
An Australian-South African operation in 2002 led to the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels poaching toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Australian forces abseiled onto the vessels from a South African naval helicopter, ending a 14-day chase.
The high-priced Patagonian Toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, is much sought after in Asia. Demand for its white, flaky flesh has soared in the past decade, driven largely by Japan and the United States, sparking a lucrative black market and giving the fish the name "white gold."
Prices for the fish, which can grow beyond seven feet long, are between $17.50-$23.50 per kg.
The latest dramatic chase across high seas comes as Australia battles to halt continuing raids in its isolated Heard and McDonald fishing zone.
Conservationists have said the Patagonian Toothfish could be commercially extinct by 2007 because of overfishing but Australia has had little success in stopping the pirates who use increasingly sophisticated equipment to stop detection and for whom the gains outweigh the threat of $198,000 fines.
Australia's four licensed fishing companies have to abide by an annual catch quota of about 2,900 tons of Patagonian Toothfish to protect dwindling stocks in southern oceans.
Poachers are estimated to be pulling in more than 2,000 tons of toothfish a month from Australian waters. Bureau Report
Australia's fisheries patrol ship, Southern Supporter, has been pursuing the fishing vessel Viarsa since August 7, when it was first spotted in the Heard and McDonald island fisheries zone, 2,200 nautical miles southwest of Australia.
But with the chase continuing, Australia sought help from South Africa and several other nations to stop the boat with a suspected catch of Patagonian Toothfish, a sought-after delicacy found in Australia's Southern Ocean waters near Antarctica.
"The pursuit is continuing. We will not be giving up," said a spokesman for Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald.
"South Africa has expressed a willingness to help us and we are working with other countries, too, to stop this boat," he added, declining to give further details.
Macdonald's office said the suspected toothfish pirates and their Australian pursuer were reported late on Monday to be 1,200 nautical miles south of Cape Town.
South Africa has offered to help as its helicopter-equipped Antarctic supply ship the MV Agulhas is nearby.
Tjaart Steyn, first secretary at the South African High Commission in Canberra, said two Australian officials flew to Cape Town at the weekend to help coordinate the operation.
"We will be deciding today what form of action to take and you can expect something to happen shortly," Steyn told newspersons.
An Australian-South African operation in 2002 led to the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels poaching toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Australian forces abseiled onto the vessels from a South African naval helicopter, ending a 14-day chase.
The high-priced Patagonian Toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, is much sought after in Asia. Demand for its white, flaky flesh has soared in the past decade, driven largely by Japan and the United States, sparking a lucrative black market and giving the fish the name "white gold."
Prices for the fish, which can grow beyond seven feet long, are between $17.50-$23.50 per kg.
The latest dramatic chase across high seas comes as Australia battles to halt continuing raids in its isolated Heard and McDonald fishing zone.
Conservationists have said the Patagonian Toothfish could be commercially extinct by 2007 because of overfishing but Australia has had little success in stopping the pirates who use increasingly sophisticated equipment to stop detection and for whom the gains outweigh the threat of $198,000 fines.
Australia's four licensed fishing companies have to abide by an annual catch quota of about 2,900 tons of Patagonian Toothfish to protect dwindling stocks in southern oceans.
Poachers are estimated to be pulling in more than 2,000 tons of toothfish a month from Australian waters. Bureau Report