Greenpeace Southeast Asia


Powering the plunder, fueling the fire: Tuna today, gone tomorrow by Chuck Baclagon
September 19, 2009, 4:38 am
Filed under: Defending our Oceans, The Esperanza, Volunteers | Tags: , ,

From the Greenpeace Australia Pacific blog

The fuel tanker Fong Seong 888 refueling the purse seiner MV American Legacy. Both are owned by the Taiwanese Chen family network of Companies.

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Fish Now, Pay Later by Chuck Baclagon
September 14, 2009, 4:43 am
Filed under: Defending our Oceans, Life at work, The Esperanza, Volunteers | Tags: , , ,

From the Greenpeace Australia Pacific blog

Just two days ago, the Japanese purse seiner, Fukuichi Maru was pulling in its purse seine net, heavy with freshly caught tuna, when we found them fishing in area 2 of the Pacific high seas. Floating and attached on their left side (or port side as we refer to it in nautical terms), was a FAD made of a very long log with a radio beacon on it. It was the first time that we caught a fishing vessel in the act of purse seining from a FAD.

Seeing this made me shake my head in disbelief. There was a two-month ban on FADs declared by the WCPFC, currently in place. But a major loophole in the ban is being exploited by Japan to continue their high seas plunder of the Pacific.(1)

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FAD Watch (And It’s Not About Trendy Fashion) by Chuck Baclagon

From the Greenpeace Australia Pacific blog

Date: Tuesday, 31 August 2009
Location: High Seas Area 1, Western Pacific Ocean
Weather conditions: Sunny day, clear skies, light breeze
Objective: To look out for FADs

A few days ago, we arrived in the High Seas of the Pacific. Since yesterday, we have been on constant watch, scanning the horizon by day, the radar by night, diligently on the look-out for FADs and fishing boats.

Up in the bridge, Gabriel (one of our dive team, and resident shark expert) was the first to go on FAD watch at 8 in the morning. And, lo and behold, you guessed it … he spotted the very thing we were looking for *ndash; a FAD!

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Hi ho hi ho, to the Pacific we go! by fierymary

From the Greenpeace Australia Pacific blog

© Greenpeace/Hilton

After being instrumental in bearing witness, along with Climate activists, at the Hay Point Coal Terminal , as well as giving support for the call of the Pacific Island nations for Australia and New Zealand to cut their emissions by 45% at the recently concluded Pacific Island Forum (which turned out to be a major disappointment for the Island States) , the Esperanza will be embarking on another campaign that is the very lifeline of the Pacific: The Pacific Tuna.

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