Shame on the fishing operators who stole these fish and tore up the seafloor so they could sell a vulnerable species to the well-to-do.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Illegal fishing operators at it again
Researchers with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) recently set out to explore an "unexplored" region of the Southern Ocean, only to find deep, straight gouges in the ocean floor. The gouges are the likely result of illegal toothfish fishing in the area. The Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is the body that manages this region, and although in recent years it seemed to have had success in cracking down on the IUU free-for-all for toothfish that started in the 1990s, it clearly has not eliminated the problem. I hope the perpetrators of this fishing, which is described as very extensive by AAD researchers, are discovered. CCAMLR simply can't manage legal fisheries appropriately if there's such extensive IUU fishing going on.
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Tonight I gave a presenation at South Pole relating to Southern Ocean conservation and renewable energy systems on the Ice. One scientist at McMurdo mentioned we should have unmanned aerial vehicles circling the seas looking for fishing pirates. Another option, although risky, would be to use a nuclear ice breaking submarine. I'd advise against that. But, tonight, one of the Ice Cube scientists asked me if we're using satellites to monitor the Southern Ocean. Are we?
Hmm, you know I don't think we are. Other countries do but I don't think the US is. ASOC has wondered whether we could, though -there's a lot of imagery out there, perhaps some could be given to NGOs for analysis as appropriate?
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