Just because there is a loophole, a lawless area, does not mean that doing the wrong thing is the right thing to do, we tried to explain to him and his Portuguese crew. "We need to work", they replied. "We need to feed our family". And work they do. They work hard. But it is still the wrong thing to do. Many people on our planet don't have the luxury of a whole lot of options. But if these guys are allowed to continue, the cod stock in the Barents Sea, the last healthy cod stock in the world, will also collapse like the rest have already done. If ships like Murtosa are allowed to plunder the world's oceans, there will not be a hell of a lot left for the very children these hard working men are trying to feed.

Despite, the loophole is not a lawless sea. It is managed by and organization known by the acronym NEAFC. This organization gives quotas to its member countries to fish in its area and the member countries have to oblige to the rules set by NEAFC. Portugal is a member country, Togo is not. So flying a flag of a country, which is not part to NEAFC is enough to avoid the law.

It was a hardcore action. We boarded their ship with caving ladders and came in fast with the Hurricane, an inflatable with a 200 hp engine. This was the escalation after niceties earlier in the day. The campaign had been explained, the captain knew why we were there, we had befriended some of the crew, and they had a very nice dog onboard called Max. We called him Max havaalar. He also sat on the net with us.

"You are the pirates", the captain insisted, "boarding my ship for your f**king TV-show". The captain never really lightened up, but we worked wonders with the crew. They stay out at sea for months, and even though we were disrupting their work, it was probably an interesting experience for them. And we, of course, had some very nice women of exceptional beauty with us. As we all know, beauty comes from the inside, and that is what makes all Greenpeacers kinda beautiful, even Dima our hairy Russian campaigner. Anyway, it was interesting to notice that many of the young men onboard after a while appeared cleanly shaven, some with fancy little flip beards or sharp sideburns. Charming fellows with winks aplenty to all the pretty girls suddenly onboard.

- Christian