We spent Monday night on the heels of a Spanish trawler ("Punta Robaleira"). They hauled at around 3am and we expect the trawl to take about 10 hours, as we are so much deeper here, so we went for a look around 8am. We tried calling them on the radio but there was no response. The trawler was fishing for Greenland halibut at about 700 meters. We returned to the Espy and went back when the trawlers speed slowed. We also sent a smaller inflatable to collect the bycatch. This time everyone was kitted out and prepared to get wet. As soon as the trawler stopped hauling they increased their speed to 10 knots and started weaving all over the place like a drunk elephant trying to flick a couple of fleas off his backside. Our inflatable stuck with them but after seeing them shut their bycatch shoot while we were sitting there it was clear that they had decided not to discharge while we were around so we returned to the ship.
Greenland halibut is a fishery with a lot bycatch. We decided to head further around the Flemish Cap sticking to the 1000 meter contour but for almost an entire day there not much life out there, which felt kind of lonely after the last few busy days.
The Greenland halibut fishery is another sad story in NAFO mismanagement and almost brought Canada and Spain over it. Its currently on a 15 year rebuilding plan but already there are concerns that this is not enough. During its peak in the early 1990s the catch was approx 45,000 mt and the quota for this year is 14,079 mt. The fishing industry would appear to be repeating the 'seriel depletion' pattern that Dr. Daniel Pauly says is the story of deep sea fisheries. Those who have quota for halibut in NAFO by: Canada, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Spain, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Japan.
So, yesterday was Greenland halibut day on the Flemish Cap. We had tracked down several Spanish trawlers but it appeared that they too had agreed not to put any bycatch out whilst we were around. It didn't matter how we approached them slow, fast, talking first, no talking... they had all agreed not to release their bycatch. It makes me think that they must have something to hide if they do not want to release it whilst we are there. Every time Mariajo tried to call they played loud Spanish music back on channel 16 (the emergency and calling channel, which all ships use).
The very small amount that we did get, before one boat closed its shoot, tells us it's a fishery with a diversity of bycatch. We found lots of different kinds of grenadiers (roughhead, roughnose and marlin spike), small redfish and small Greenland halibut. We also visited with a Faroese shrimper, which carries 500 tons of shrimp. They were very wary of Greenpeace but loosened up after a while and talked about the fishing. They are still disputing the shrimp quota allocation with NAFO so they can't enter Canadian ports. They had an observer on board (you can spot them because they were very clean non-fishermen type clothes) but he refused to answer any direct questions because of his confidentiality agreement.
We are now heading for other Greenland halibut boats in the hope that we will be able to get a better idea of the bycatch involved in this fishery. We have decided to stay a couple more days in the halibut grounds before heading back down the edge of the Grand Banks.
