141/09/2007 - Hunting down pirates and ministers

The Antares the Russian pirate trawler docked in Norway. (Photo: Greenpeace)

WEEKEND FEATURE: Hunting down pirates and ministers

NORWAY
Friday, September 14, 2007, 23:50 (GMT + 9)


The situation has the elements of crime, politic, and circus; perfect for a modern TV series. The crew of a vessel suspected for illegal fishery is being interrogated by police, a minister of Fisheries, who has declared pirate fishing vessel war, has been reported to the police for neglecting duties. The vessel has just a small cargo of illegal fish, but more interesting, it has tonnes of different stamps needed to falsify documents, and hovering over all this, an envorinmetal activist hunting for blood, both pirate and minister.

The story did not start when the Russian vessel Antares was seized on Thursday this week. It started a couple of years back. The vessel had been fishing in the North Atlantic for cod. On 24 November last year the Norwegian Directorate of Fishery completed a lengthy, well-documented report on the trawler Antares. The confidential report has, as is normal in Norway, leaked out and is now more or less public. In the report there are copies of numerous documents proving illegal activities.

The vessel M-0149 Antares is owned and operated by the company CF Ponoy headquartered in Murmansk, and was inspected on 15 November, 2006 by the Directorate of Fishery, Finnmark Regional office.

This reports covers high seas transfers to the reefer Mumrinskiy taking place on 11 November last year, unloaded by Mumrinskiy in Eemshaven on 24 July last year, with a high seas transfer on 11 August last year and discharge from Mumrinskiy in Eemshaven on 20 August 2006.

Case No. 1
According to the bill of lading collected by the Directorate of Fishery ,during an inspection on 15 November, 2006 the vessels catch journal number PM-060039/01-fc, page 108, states that the Antares transferred 30,300 kilos of cod and 20,670 kilos of haddock (product weight) to the reefer Mumrinskiy on 11 November, 2006 at position 71 00 N 34 10 E.

According to the bill of lading collected from the Mumrinskiy during an inspection performed by the Coast Guard Vessel Harstad on 15 July, 2006 and “Delivery acceptance note” collected by the Coast Guard Vessel Malene Østervold on 25 October, 2006, the transferred quantity from Antares is noted at 81,180 kilos of cod and 20,670 kilos of haddock (product weight).

This quantity is in accordance with documentation received from the Dutch Control Authorities (AID) on the landing of cargo from the Mumrinskiy in Eemshaven the 24 July, 2006.

Discrepancies in quantity of cod and haddock are shown in a separate table,” writes the Directorate of Fisheries.

Case No. 2
This is the first well-documented case in which it is proven that the Antares has been cheating. A second case is described this way: “According to the bill of lading collected by the Directorate of Fishery during an inspection 15.11.06, and the vessels catch journal with number PM-060039/01-fc, page 132, the Antares transferred 55,740 kilos of cod and 30,900 kilos of haddock (product weight) to the reefer Mumrinskiy 11.08.06 at position 71 00 N 34 10 E."

This quantity is in accordance with bill of lading collected from the reefer Mumrinskiy when inspected by Coast Guard Vessels Malene Østervold the 25 October, 2006.

The bill of lading, cargo manifest, landing declaration, and health certificate received by the Directorate of Fishery from Dutch Control Authorities (AID) shows that the Mumrinskiy unloaded 109,590 kilos of cod and 55,980 kilos of haddock (product weight) from the Antares in Eemshafen 20 August, 2006.

Discrepancies in quantity of cod and haddock is shown in a separate table,” writes the Directorate of Fisheries. The rest of the report is mainly copies of all documentation collected to prove the swindle.

Greenpeace,Norway has argued for the Norwegian authorities to blacklist the Antares, and a large number of vessels that has been proven are operating in the same illegal way. Norway was probably the first country in the world to publicly list identities, IMO-number and other details on vessels they declared as blacklisted.

However, despite the Minister of Fishery and Coastal Affairs Helga Pedersen, in a number of national and international forums, spoke of the success of Norway in fighting illegal fishery in the North-East Atlantic, the list is slowly turning into a political problem. One thing is for vessels to be operating under flags of convenience, often flying the flag of exotic countries, which do not even have an honorary consul in the country, and another thing is to police the activities of vessels flying the flag of a big brother in the East: Russia. Right now Norwegian authorites are like a mouse in the shadow of this, and there are those who believe the reason is a small fish called herring.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has also declared illegal fishing a serious problem. The whole fishery sector is up for restructuring, however Russia does not like interference from other countries telling them how to clean up their own act.

Norway already has felt the power of Russia when a year and a half ago they had the doors closed on them to export their salmon to Russia for reasons to be speculated upon. They know that similar actions towards the pelagic sector would be creating a much worse crisis. A collapse in herring prices would hit hard at pelagic processors already struggling to make ends meet. Moreover, nobody knows the direction of the new Russian Government.

Chairman of Greenpeace Norway, Truls Gulowsen reacted promptly when the Antares was arrested upon unloading fish and receiving fuel in the city of Kirkenes, close to the Russian border.

Gulowsen explained to FIS.com: “If Norway is blacklisting other vessels for the same breaches of fishery rules, and denying these vessels to be serviced in Norwegian harbours, the same rules must apply to a vessels like the Antares. It is the Directorate of Fisheries, a body controlled under the Department of Fishery and Coastal Affairs structure, that has documented clearly the crimes committed by the Antares”.

He adds that: “The minister has been very active in the work to have in place European rules for blacklisting of pirate vessels. But she is afraid of maintaining these rules in our own harbours. The situation is directly embarrassing."

Gulowsen has now widened his hunt for those who are breaching Norwegian Law to not only cover vessels operating illegally. Thursday he reported the minister to the police, by way of letter in which he explains why the minister is breaching, the law.

The letter reads:

“Report on neglect of public duties:
Greenpeace is reporting the Minister of Fishery and Coastal Affairs for breaching the Law of Responsibility, § 8. The law demands that a member of Government be punished shoud this member, by action or neglect, cause or contribute to a decision made by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) to not be executed or an action be made in conflict with the decision by the Storting.

The minister has, by: allowing continuous access to fishing operation in the Norwegian Economic Zone and for the use of Norwegian harbours, such as Kirkenes, for landing of fish and exchange of crew by the Russian fishing vessels Antares, and for not blacklisting the vessel on the recently Norwegian IUU-list, acted in breach of the decision made by the Storting.”

For the Police it is a delicate situation to receive a well-documented report concerning a minister acting in breach of a decision made by the Storting. It is difficult to believe the Police would do anything other than drop the case. However, Greenpeace raised the attention necessary and owners of pirate vessels worldwide will now watch the case with great interest. Arrested by the Norwegians, would they have a right to demand equality under the Law?

Foreign politicians irritated over Norway’s so-called heavy-handed response against foreign vessels found guilty of breaching Norwegian and International laws and regulations, will use any chance to attack the Norwegian minister for speaking with a forked tongue.

The minister responded on Thursday afternoon, that a loophole in the Law has made it impossible to blacklist the vessel. The Law was changed in May and the vessel will be blacklisted if caught with illegal fish one more time.

The Antares will probably leave Kirkenes harbour after paying a fine if found guilty of illegal fishing. In the worse case, seen with the eyes of Greenpeace, the vessel leave the harbour unpunished and with a guarantee of no future trouble if it is not caught redhanded.

The Antares has been forgiven as it had the right flag and fished illegal in the right spots. However, Minister Pedersen will have a problem explaining her in-actions to the EU and others who have been pressed into actions by her and the Norwegian Government.

The Ministry of Fishery and Coastal Affairs has decided to fund a new fishery newspaper in Northwest Russia. They feel the information given by Russian media, fishery press included, is not presenting the Norwegian views in a fair way. The ministry will possibly need to publish such PR-publications in Europe too.

Gulowsen of Greenpeace will continue his hunt for pirates and ministers. He probably did not get a hit that was big enough, with the Antares, however he has wounded the international reputation of the minister.

By Terje Engoe
www.fis.com