18 June 2007 - Eemshaven,
Netherlands — The notorious Russian pirate
fish cargo ship, the Mumrinskiy, has been
chained to the docks in the Dutch port of
Eemshaven by activists to stop it from engaging
in illegal activities with pirate fisheries
and facilitating the plunder of the dwindling
Barents Sea fish stocks.
The chaining of the Mumrinskiy's propeller
to the dock by Greenpeace activists occurred
after the failure of authorities to blacklist
the ship and punish it for ongoing illegal
activities.
On June 12th the Mumrinskiy was documented
by the Norwegian Coastguard transhipping
illegally to the reefer Sinbad, another
vessel with a scandalous track record of
involvement in the Barents illegal cod fishery.
The Sindbad was operating without a flag
and under the unregistered name `Marlin'.
The Sindbad/Marlin was immediately blacklisted
but the Murminskiy escaped unpunished.
"The Mumrinskiy continues to break
laws that have been put in place to manage
the world's last remaining relatively healthy
cod stock. It is obvious that it will continue
to engage in illegal activities if allowed
to return to sea," said Farah Obaidullah,
Greenpeace Netherlands oceans campaigner.
"In a time of rampant over fishing
governments can not continue to turn a blind
eye to documented pirates like the Mumrinskiy.
This ship must be scrapped, and her owners
charged with stealing fish from the Barents
Sea."
Greenpeace will hand over the keys of the
lock chaining the Mumrinskiy to the dockside
to the Dutch Minister of Fisheries later
today, and is calling on the Dutch government
and the international community to demand
the immediate scrapping of the Mumrinskiy.
The Mumrinskiy has a long history of involvement
in illegal operations, including transhipment
of Barents cod from illegal boats, ignoring
commands from Norwegian authorities and
misreporting its cargo to hide illegally
caught fish.
The Mumrinskiy arrived from the Barents
Sea on Saturday to offload its cargo at
Sealane Cold Storage BV, a Dutch freezing
company.
According to the United Nations 74 percent
of the worlds commercial fish stocks are
either fully exploited or depleted.
Pirate fishing, also known as illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU)
is a US$9 billion rogue industry that has
a devastating effect on fish stocks and
biodiversity in some of the most ecologically
important areas of the world's oceans such
as the Barents Sea.
"The reality is that there is simply
not enough fish left in the sea for all
the boats out there," said Sari Tolvanen,
Greenpeace International oceans campaigner.
"Governments must work together to
establish a global database of vessels and
promptly blacklist those caught operating
illegally, such as the Murminskiy, in order
to address pirate fishing and establish
a worldwide network of marine reserves to
restore fish stocks".
