Fish Guts and Spider Crabs

Posted by Dave at 01:20 PM, October 25, 2004

(C) Greenpeace

Remember last Sunday afternoon, how I spent it on the deck of a bottom trawler? Well, this Sunday was different. I spent my time peering into a dirty smelly hole in the side of a bottom trawler, getting splattered with fish guts. Thousands of disembodied deep sea fish heads tumbled in into the water, their eyes bulging disdainfully, swim bladders poking out through thick lips. Such is the glamorous life of a Greenpeace activist.

With me in the African Queen inflatable were Maaike - on the wheel, Maite, Alain and Dave R. We had a bit of a system on the go - Maaike kept the boat tight alongside the trawler, at an angle, so that we could reach out and cherry-pick intact bycatch from the chute - bycatch being the animals that the fisherman throw back, as useless. We're collecting it as damning evidence of the shocking destruction and wastage caused by bottom trawling.

Dave R and I were manning the landing net for a good chunk of the afternoon, using it to land everything from sharks and squid to prawns and starfish. Alain was doing daredevil reaches into the chute, grabbing sharks and lifting them into the boat. Maite was proving an expert at the 'details' - spotting small creatures sliding down, and delaying their disappearance with an oar, while we got the net in place - and handling fragile creatures discarded by the fishermen

We were alongside the Playa de Mendui&ntilda;a, an EU bottom trawler that was again dragging its nets across the North Atlantic's Hatton Bank. We had been shadowing the trawler for 24 hours now, after speaking to the skipper - who refused to cease his destructive fishing practices. We had gone on to document the hauling of a net full of deep sea fish, and attaching a banner to the hull. It read:

'E.U. DEEP SEA DESTROYER'

Says it all...

As darkness fell, the Esperanza began trailing the trawler 100 miles north to another fishing ground. At 5:30am the nets were cast again, ready for another rampage across the 1000m deep seamount slopes. As the nets stay down for at least four of five hours we had a bit of waiting to do.

By the time our boat went onto bycatch detail, it had already been a long day. We usually get a 'sleep-in' on a Sunday. Instead, people were stumbling around bleary-eyed at 7:30am, already wrapped up in unflattering thermal longjohns. Paul (usually our science bloke) and June (assistant cook) had laid on a massive fried breakfast - as much REAL chips and scrambled eggs as anyone could possibly stomach at such an ungodly hour.

By 9:00am we're wrapped up in survival suits, speeding towards the trawler in the African Queen. The camera team are also on board, with us, while Ollie, Odin, Alain and Francois are in the Grey Whale.

The Atlantic has been kind recently - after nasty weather dogging us on our first week, Saturday brought blue skies and seas favourable for inflatable use. Well, almost blue skies - while our guys were out with the trawler yesterday, a rainbow appeared right above (before a brief shower of rain hit). And today was the same - cold in the morning, but with bright sunshine. (And Maaike saw a moonbow last night –like rainbow, but at night, and caused by the moon – shades of grey rather than colours).

When I say favourable seas, I don't mean flat calm – we’re still rolling around, and getting the old splash over water into the boat.

The wait begins, tucked in behind the trawler. If the trawl lasts six hours, then we expect the haul to come up at 11:30am. We make ourselves comfortable - as much as one can in an inflatable getting tossed around in the North Atlantic. A few seasoned veterans even manage to catnap. People chat, watch the trawler, discuss camera angles, scenarios, the bird life, the weather, psychology, breakfast, what we're doing in December, our childhoods, fish, bladder control, you name it, we talk about it. We drink coffee, eat chocolate.

Finally - around lunchtime, the trawler's stern pulleys start groaning as the cables start running through. It's another half hour before the trawl doors appear and the net is taken on board. We're filming, photographing everything. On board the trawler, the fishermen empty the net, and turn the ship, for another drag along the same seamount area.

Clouds of fulmars have appeared by now - I quite like these birds. They're attractive, and have a slightly insecure way of flying, like they just don't quite believe that they can stay airborne. There are loads of them, and they're hungry.

The grey whale is alongside the trawler, with Francois hanging off the side, net in hand. We're standing by, watching for anything they miss to float by.

Bingo! The Grey Whale Team manage to land a huge bright red spider crab, fully intact - this incredible creature (which has to be seen to be believe) has been slung down a bycatch shoot, and is still moving... just a little.

The camera guys are on the Grey Whale now, making the dying crab a star. We move into position and start collecting bycatch. Which is where we came in.. There's such a torrent of dead stuff pouring out of the chute, that sometimes, while trying to get one fish, we get a dozen huge fish heads, and it take three of us to wrestle the net back to the boat. We get totally fixated on this hole in the side of a trawler. What will come next?

I shoot the net forward and land a mangled starfish. 'You should be playing cricket for England' says Dave R. I'm too busy wrestling the net to answer, but why would I want to play a game (for Ireland), standing around in a field, wearing a white sweater, drinking lime cordials and waiting for an airborne ball, when I can be here on the high seas, netting mangled deep sea creatures? There's no comparison!

Sometime around 5:00pm, we call it a day. Maaike pulls the African Queen away from the trawler, and we head for the Esperanza. I fall back, and sit on the floor of the boat, dazed.

Our catch for the day - animals discarded by the bottom trawler: More than forty sharks. Loads of starfish, sea urchins, hermit crabs and hydroids. Crab and goose barnacles, annelid worms, whelks, and young roundnose grenadiers. Two squid (processed), skate, and a cushion stars. And, of course, our incredible spider crab.

- Dave