Not much in the net
Posted by Andrew via Email at 01:00 PM, August 19, 2004
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| (C) Greenpeace |
Nine PM, yesterday evening, we discovered a large ship 14 nautical miles to the southwest. A quick conference on the bridge and a decision was made to change course and investigate. As we steamed into a head-swell, the wind picked up and a spectacular squall blew in. Rain bucketed down, and blackened the sky while the 40-knot winds blew plumes of spray over the Warrior. The squall passed just as we arrived within three nautical miles, and identified the vessel as a purse seiner. We turned our engines off to drift with the seiner, waiting for dawn.
Larger photo
At first light, we launched a boat to investigate the seiner, and film their activities. They had set their net in the last hours of darkness around a large log (see previous update about logs). The seiner and its four powerful boats were now pulling the massive purse seine net tight around the school of fish that had sheltered under the log. Over three hours we bobbed up and down in the messy seas watching the net cinch tight. 15 crew laboured on the back of the seiner to flake the net as it was winched on board, over the derrick, while crews on the seiner's four boats worked the net - tightening it in a neat circle. It looked to be dangerous and exhausting work. After three hours, the net was tight against the seiner.
Within all the commotion, engines and cranes, crew from their big skiff began to jump into the heaving seas, and swim through the ropes and cables to the seiner to help haul in the catch. Some hesitated before they jumped into the swell. It looked insanely dangerous. No life jackets, though they were at least wearing helmets, which we hoped were of the floating variety.
Despite the massive size of the net, and all the effort and ingenuity, the final catch was a dismal few dozen yellowfin and an already dead swordfish. It appeared that the rest was by-catch (small trigger fish and mahi-mahi) that the seiner crew used to demonstrate their talent at fish throwing by chucking them far off the seiner into the water - some dead, some alive.
Radio conversation with the ship confirmed the unproductive fishing. They'd been here for a few days without much luck, but are planing on trying here a few more anyway to conserve fuel.
Two days previously, we visited a small Chinese longliner (roughly 20 metres). That time the weather and waves were worse, but not to rough for the longliner - they can fish in pretty bad weather. We went out to film the work. The crew were friendly and waved, but could only shrug their shoulders as the lines came in empty.
