The Beacon
At the Fish Market with Dr. Daniel Pauly
Illegal fishing is an enormous problem and the main focus of my new book, but the truth is that fish populations would be in trouble even if the illegal operators could somehow be eliminated. The way I learned how bad it is was by spending time with Daniel Pauly, a renowned fisheries scientist and one of Oceana's board members. When I said I was skeptical about the idea that the populations of many of the best-known fish are now less than ten percent of what they were fifty years ago, he took me to Vancouver's fish market. Yes, the market was full of fish, but as we walked through the bustling market, stall by stall, Daniel pointed out that most of the fish came from faraway places, most of them in the Southern Hemisphere. Many of the fish that used to be in the market, the fish our parents used to buy, aren't there anymore, replaced by substitutes that consumers don't actually know much about. The changes are not rapid--and therefore unnoticed by most people--but by the end of our tour the enormity of what has happened had become perfectly clear.
It's difficult not to be pessimistic, and Daniel is sometimes criticized by his peers for being too negative. But I think he does not have a choice. If people fail to understand how dire the problems are, I believe he is doing exactly the right thing by speaking as loudly as he can. That's why two chapters in Hooked focus on him!
Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish
Here is the prologue to my new book, Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and the Perfect Fish. Stay tuned for more Hooked blogs.
South Indian Ocean
Prologue
August 7, 2003
Southern Supporter was in silent mode as it closed in on its target. The external lights were off, portholes had been blackened, and no one touched the radio. The radar was activated only twice an hour, each time for less than a minute, to check for icebergs. One day earlier, a sensor on the Australian patrol boat had picked up outbound radar emissions from three nearby vessels. All of them appeared to be just west of Heard Island, an uninhabited scrap of land halfway between South Africa and Australia, nine hundred miles north of Antarctica. It was the dead of winter, and the island, virtually barren and almost completely covered by glaciers, was buffeted by air so cold that wind-borne saltwater had formed horizontal icicles against the rails of the ship.
Pirates and Patagonian Toothfish
The news that Antonio Vidal Pego turned himself into federal authorities in Miami, who arrested him on April 19 for bringing illegally caught "Chilean Sea Bass" into the United States, was a huge surprise. He was indicted several months ago, but I never thought he would appear in an American courtroom. I know all about Vidal. My book - Hooked: Pirates, Poaching and The Perfect Fish - describes how an Australian patrol boat chased one of Vidal's ships halfway around Antarctica because it was believed to be illegally fishing for Patagonian toothfish (that's the real name--they aren't bass).
The name of the fishing vessel was Viarsa--an anagram of Vidal Amadores SA, the name of Vidal's company.
Vidal, who is based in Galicia, Spain, is one of the biggest players in the toothfish business. He's young and aggressive, he owns several boats, and he's hired some of the best toothfish hunters out there. By the way, the chase went halfway around Antarctica, through icebergs and near-solid ice, before the vessel was finally arrested. I won't tell you what happened with the court cases that followed, but let's hope the prosecutors have better luck with Vidal.
