Poacher had 85 tons toothfish
2003-08-28 09:04
Sydney - Australia has confirmed that a Uruguayan trawler boarded by fisheries officals after a marathon 20-day chase through iceberg-strewn waters had 85 tons of the rare Patagonian toothfish aboard.
Fisheries minister Ian Macdonald said the discovery of the endangered fish in the hold of the Viarsa 1 vindicated the expensive, dangerous pursuit of the Uruguayan-flagged vessel - the longest chase in Australian maritime history.
Macdonald refused to reveal the cost of the pursuit, saying the government was more interested in sending a warning that it would vigorously defend sovereignty over its remote sub-Antarctic fisheries.
"Cost doesn't come into it," Macdonald told reporters.
"I think the cost is more in not doing anything. We are determined, no matter what the cost, to do everything we possibly can to stamp out this trade."
Australian fisheries officals, backed by armed South African police, boarded the Viarsa 1 in atrocious weather conditions late on Wednesday after the longline trawler had bolted for home.
Crew facing huge fines
It had been spotted inside Australia's Antarctic fishing zone about 4 000km southwest of the mainland on August 7.
Senior members of the vessel's 40 crew - made up of Uruguayan, Spanish and Chilean nationals - face fines of A$550 000 (about R2.625m) each for illegal fshing.
They also could be jailed for up to a year for ignoring an Australian fisheries officer's order to heave to.
An Australian customs and fisheries patrol boat, Southern Supporter, started the chase and was joined by South African vessels SA Agulhas and tug John Ross, as well as the British fisheries patrol boat, Dorada, based in the Falkland Islands.
The chase covered more than 4 000 nautical miles before ending in the Roaring Forties of the South Atlantic.
At one point, the Viarsa 1 attempted to lose the Southern Supporter by sailing into the sub-Antarctic pack ice, although neither vessel had a reinforced ice hull.
Catch worth about R7.2m
Macdonald said Uruguayan fisheries officals had objected to the boarding, but had been told Australia was merely exercising its rights under international law.
He also questioned why a Uruguayan official was on board the trawler.
Macdonald estimated the Viarsa's catch was worth A$1.5m (about R7.2m).
The Patagonian toothfish lives mainly in Antarctic waters, reaching two metres in length. Overfishing has made it increasingly rare because it does not breed until it is at least 10 years old.
Poachers are estimated to take four times more toothfish than are caught under official quotas and Australia has warned the fish will become commercially extinct if the pirates are not stopped.
The toothfish's popularity has soared in the United States and Japan in the past five years since marketers began selling it under the name Chilean sea bass.