Poacher: Aus praises SA help

2003-08-28 17:31

Cape Town - Australian officials praised South Africa for its assistance in chasing and boarding the Uruguayan fishing trawler, Viarsa 1, loaded with 85 tons of poached Patagonian toothfish.

South African seamen helped Australian officials capture the Viarsa 1, after a 20-day chase across the South Atlantic, which culminated on Wednesday night with the arrest of the 40 crew-members, said environmental affairs department spokesperson Phindile Makwakwa.

The Australian High Commissioner to South Africa, Ian Wilcock, thanked the South African government for their assistance in apprehending the trawler.

"The decisive co-operation of Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Valli Moosa, and South Africa's Marine and Coastal Management, Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies, made this boarding possible. We must not underestimate the difficulty of such operations in very dangerous sub-antarctic waters," he said.

Australian Federal Fisheries Minister, Senator Ian Macdonald, thanked South Africa and the United Kingdom for their assistance in the pursuit.

"It is pleasing to see that there exists a high level of international co-operation to combat the illegal toothfish trade," he said.

Back to Cape Town

On Thursday the trawler, escorted by the South African salvage tug John Ross and the Australian ship Southern Supporter, was heading to Cape Town for logistical reasons, said Makwakwa. The trip is expected to take seven days, after which the trawler would be taken to Australia for prosecution.

The journey to Fremantle in western Australia, was expected to take until late September, said Australia's Justice and Customs Minister, Senator Chris Ellison.

Macdonald said: "... this chase is a warning to the pirates and poachers who invade Australia's waters to fish illegally, possibly destroying a fragile marine ecosystem and threatening the sustainability of valuable fish stocks, that Australia will pursue them to the end of the earth to stamp out this illegal activity.

"The boarding followed co-operation and dialogue between Australian and Uruguayan officials since the Viarsa was sighted allegedly operating illegally inside the Australian Fishing Zone around Heard Island and McDonald Islands on August 7, at which time the Southern Supporter initiated the 21-day hot pursuit. We will continue to keep the Uruguayan government fully informed and look forward to working with Uruguay as the investigations proceed," he said.

Anna Willock, senior fisheries advisor of Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network, commended the efforts of Australia, South Africa and the UK. "These countries have been at the forefront of pushing for greater international controls over toothfish fisheries and they have demonstrated their commitment to this by decisive and resolute action this week - under difficult sea conditions and at some risk to the lives of the personnel involved."

Delicacy

She said Patagonian Toothfish is highly valued in restaurants in Japan and the USA, where it is known as Chilean sea bass.

According to a Traffic study Uruguay has significantly increased the capture of the species over the past five years with catches climbing from 163 tonnes in 1997 to 5 000 tons in 2001. Almost all of that catch is taken in high seas areas beyond Uruguay's national waters.

The SA Agulhas, a South African vessel strengthened against ice, joined the chase over a week ago, and together with the John Ross, intercepted the Viarsa approximately 3 600km south west of Cape Town late on Wednesday afternoon. A British fisheries patrol vessel, Dorada, also joined the chase.

On Friday, Australia hired South Africa's most powerful salvage tug, the John Ross, to outsteam the Viarsa 1 which had braved sub-Antarctic pack ice in an attempt to escape, even though the vessel did not have a reinforced ice hull.

Last year the Viarsa's sister ship, the "Arvisa", was caught poaching and eventually stopped by a French warship. The vessel was confiscated and its captain and crew fined, AFP reported on Thursday.

- SAPA