Capture of Shark Finning Boat

[archman]

I don't know Australian regulations, but if that boat were caught in U.S. waters, the only fishing violation would be for having the fins. It's perfectly legal to have whole sharks in your hold, and you can chop their fins off all you want once you reach a proper port and register your catch. Our "anti-finning" regulations suck.

It's difficult to believe that the Indonesian crew would actually put up prolonged physical resistance against the aussies. Are they in a time warp?

 

[Scubaroo]

I don't know Australian regulations, but if that boat were caught in U.S. waters, the only fishing violation would be for having the fins. It's perfectly legal to have whole sharks in your hold, and you can chop their fins off all you want once you reach a proper port and register your catch.

Same regulations apply in Australia - to AUSTRALIAN fishermen. These guys are entering our territorial waters to fish, on top of finning.

Root of the problem is incredible demand for shark fins in Singapore, Hong Kong, China...

 

[Jim Ernst]

ya buddy now throw them suckers to the sharks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[archman]

Same regulations apply in Australia - to AUSTRALIAN fishermen. These guys are entering our territorial waters to fish, on top of finning.

You folks sound stricter. We allow foreign shark fishing in our EEZ, so long as the carcasses are reported and landed in a U.S. port.

Foreign vessels in U.S. waters can have shark fins aboard if they're only transitting, and not fishing. Of course, there's little enforcement to verify that every boat with fins aboard caught those sharks outside the EEZ.

So if the Indonesian boat were in our waters and boarded, we'd have less case for legal action. If the crew had evidence of their fins being caught outside our EEZ, or of being finned in a U.S. port, we'd let the boat go.

That's assuming we even have fisheries enforcement. After 9/11, our Coast Guard has shunted most environmental assets towards other issues. All we basically have now are civilian observers to hold the line. Maybe Australia can lend us some boats and personnel?

 

[discrepancy]

Illegal fishing is a problem alright, and it's not just shark fins. For years now, foreign poachers have been strip-mining Australia's off-shore reefs for trochus shells as well. Some local aboriginals recently caught an Indonesian boat in flagrante delicto.
Story is at:http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17025163%5E2702,00.html

The root cause of all this is the large profits to be had from poaching shark fin and trochus are just too attractive to impoverished Indonesian fishermen. They have families to feed, and they will risk large fines, arrest and imprisonment, not to mention drowning in unseaworthy little boats.

Some poverty-stricken fishermen can be caught in a vicious cycle. After we arrest a crew and burn their boat, the crew are returned to Indonesia, where the boat owner demands that the crew pay back some of the cost of the lost boat. Of course the fishermen have no money, so they are effectively indentured to the boat owner, who then orders the hapless guy back to Australia on the next illegal fishing trip.

How do we solve the problem? Just like heroin, or ivory, or rare animals, people will traffic, smuggle and poach their way past all the deterrents on earth if the potential rewards are big enough. So, it comes back to demand. Unfortunately with many Asian economies growing rapidly, and with fewer sharks around (the Indonesians have fished theirs out), we have a combination of richer consumers competing for a dwindling "resource", so we shouldn't expect the price to come down soon. You could always attack the demand by attempting to change the attitudes of the final consumers in Asia, but no-one seems to be enjoying much success there. And look at the Japanese whaling situation.

If anyone's interested, the Australian government's official strategy is outlined here,
http://www.afma.gov.au/management/compliance/illegal/default.htm
but the long term outlook is not good. All anyone can really do at the moment is make it as expensive as possible for the illegal fishermen and their bosses back in their home villages. We can't do much about the rewards on offer, but we can certainly raise the risk that they won't make a profit.

 

[Scubaroo]

Educating the local fishermen to the real risks, rather than let Chinese financers tell them that there's no enforcement by Australians taking place, would also help. A lot of these guys are surprised Australia is patrolling - they're reporting that they've been told by their backers that Australia no longer worries about illegal fishing and that they won't get caught.

I think there were 10 boats caught in the first couple of days of last week - 9 were finning, 1 had trochus. Both are a problem.

 

[archman]

A lot of these guys are surprised Australia is patrolling - they're reporting that they've been told by their backers that Australia no longer worries about illegal fishing and that they won't get caught.

Yeah, we have similar situations with illegal drug smugglers. The U.S. Navy detached an old frigate for narcotics interdiction duties this year, and lo and behold the ship is making spectacular busts.
http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=20715

It really shouldn't be surprising that such large offences take place, when physical enforcement is so low in most of the oceans. And even when there are water cops, sometimes offenders still get away.

Case in point: There was a russian trawler last week that refused to be detained by the norwegian coast guard. It fled into russian waters with two norwegian inspectors (it had just been boarded), and will now probably get little more than a slap on the wrist. At least the norwegians disabled the other trawler before it could run off.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4351136.stm

You aussies are very highly regarded for your marine management and enforcement stance of late. Keep up the good work!

 

[jbilicska]

Yes a fine job done by the Aussies .

 

[Rickg]

And now the whining & excuse making by the Indonesian government starts.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...tandrun-tactics/2005/10/28/1130400366708.html

Rickg