28 March
2006 - Guinea We have arrested a pirate fishing
vessel stealing fish off the coast of Guinea, taking
a Guinean Navy officer and a fisheries inspector
and working with crew from the Esperanza and the
Environmental Justice Foundation. Our onboard campaigner,
Sarah Duthie, said, "Today we found one pirate
but we know there is a fleet of them out here
and in every other ocean, stealing fish every day.
At first light this morning, the
Greenpeace helicopter flew over a group of fishing
vessels 60 miles off the coast of Guinea. One was
not on the list of ships authorized to fish. An
inflatable boat was launched from the Greenpeace
ship M.Y Esperanza, taking a Guinean Navy officer
and a fisheries inspector with crew from Greenpeace
and the Environmental Justice Foundation on board.
After confirming the ship, the
Lian Run No 14 - one of a family of Chinese vessels
observed in the area - had no license, the ship
was arrested. The Esperanza will now escort her
to Conakry and hand her over to officials on shore.
The captain of the Lian Run No
14 claimed documentation was lodged in Las Palmas
the fish laundering capital of the world. In addition,
all the boxes being used to pack the stolen fish
bore the names of other vessels, proving that even
licensed vessels collaborate with the pirates to
sell illegally caught fish on the market.
Fish boxes with the names of seven
other vessels were found on board the Lian Run No
14, proving how licensed vessels are packing their
boxes with illegal catch from the Lian Run No 14.
The fact that they had boxes
on board destined for Europe and claimed to be represented
in Las Palmas shows a clear link between the food
being stolen from Africa and the fish being served
on the dinner tables of Europe, said Helene Bours
of the Environmental Justice Foundation.
