Pirates' illegal methods net thembig money, threaten Arctic fishsurvival

Thai customs officials near Phuket, Thailand, investigate illegal fishing. Photo: Jonathan Kaiman/Los

Angeles Times/TNS

PHUKET, Thailand — Four Thai customs agents in a gray speedboat slowly

circle a rusty fishing vessel a mile off the coast of Phuket. The government has

forbidden the 625-ton boat to set sail, but it has also ordered the agents not to

go onboard. So they continue to circle — and stare.

The Kunlun is suspected of holding some $5 million worth of “Chilean sea bass”

that was caught using unauthorized practices. The fish are neither bass nor

necessarily from Chile. Like other popular species, Chilean sea bass have

become very valuable, putting them at risk of overfishing.

In the past, overfishing has threatened the existence of entire species.

Fishermen used massive drift nets that snagged everything in their paths. Since

then, international organizations have fought for regulations that help control the

use of such devastating practices.

By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.27.15

Word Count 915

But in many parts of the world, pirates continue to operate. In rarely patrolled

stretches of the remotest ocean, they catch protected fish with banned

equipment. Their run-down vessels fly a shifting assortment of national flags.

Environmentalists, Officials Join Forces To Lower Boom OnPirates

Environmental organizations and law enforcement authorities work together to

corner the pirates. The process often becomes a high-stakes cat-and-mouse

game.

Before its arrival in Thailand, the Kunlun had led pursuers on a six-day, 900-mile

chase. On Feb 26, customs officials boarded the ship in Australia’s Cocos

Islands. They found a large load of frozen fish, but left without filing any charges

or complaints.

Australian official Richard Colbeck explained the situation to the local news

media. Colbeck said that Australia did not have the authority to arrest the

Kunlun's captain and crew because they were in international waters.

Before that adventure, the Kunlun had been spotted on a remote stretch of the

Antarctic Ocean. It was in a region called the Shadowlands, about 2,400 miles

southwest of Australia. Many fishermen consider those choppy, iceberg-filled

international waters too dangerous to travel. But this area is full of Arctic

toothfish, one of two species marketed under the more appealing name of

Chilean sea bass.

International Agency Monitors Ships, Sets Fishing Limits

Fishing in the Antarctic Ocean is regulated by the Convention on the

Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The organization

is based in Australia, but it is made up of representatives from 24 nations and

the European Union.

The CCAMLR licenses vessels, tracks their movements and sets limits on how

many fish can be caught. “Illegal, unreported and unregulated” ships are a

constant source of headaches for the CCAMLR. These boats fish with banned

nets and fly flags of non-CCAMLR nations to dodge regulators. Some estimates

say they cause global losses of up to $23 billion a year.

The market for Chilean sea bass boomed in the 1990s, causing a rush to catch

toothfish. By 2000, the U.S. government reported that two-thirds of the Chilean

sea bass on the market at that time had been caught illegally. Toothfish numbers

had also dropped dangerously low.

Since then, CCAMLR has tightened regulations, reducing the number of illegal

fishing vessels in its area. Toothfish populations have also been stabilized. Still,

the organization says some boats continue to operate with illegal nets and false

flags.

A Ship With Changing Names, Fishy Origins

When the Kunlun entered Thailand’s waters on March 6, local authorities did not

notice anything out of the ordinary.

The captain told authorities that his ship was from Indonesia and that it was

called the Taishan, the name painted on its hull. He also said it carried 182 tons

of frozen black grouper that he had purchased from a smaller boat at sea.

Customs let the Kunlun drop anchor. Trucks hauled its cargo to the Songkhla

deep-water port, a busy spot on the Thailand-Vietnam border.

The next day, Phuket Marine Police official Panya Chaichana received a notice

from Interpol, an police group made up of officers from a number of countries.

Interpol asked Chaichana for information about the "illegal actions of the vessel

Kunlun.” It said the ship had been fishing with banned nets in a protected area.

The Kunlun's owners were also accused of changing the ship's “name, national

registration (‘flag’) and other identifying characteristics.”

According to Interpol, the 42-year-old Kunlun had also been called many other

names, including the Chang Bai, the Hongshui, the Corvus, the Galaxy, the Red

Moon and the Dorita. The ship had flown the flags of Equatorial Guinea,

Indonesia, Tanzania, South Korea, Panama and Sierra Leone. It had been

registered to at least five different companies.

Skirting The Full Consequences Of Piracy

Chaichana found no illegal fishing gear when he boarded the boat. Songkhla

port authorities could not determine the cargo’s origins or how it was caught.

“If Thailand follows its own laws, the only crime which ... (the Kunlun) committed

was mislabeling the seafood,” said Michael Gravitz of the Marine Conservation

Institute in Washington. “For that, they could get slapped with a $3,000 fine. But

that’s for a $5 million cargo. And this boat has been on the international list of

pirate fishing boats for a long time.”

Authorities at Songkhla said they planned to return the fish after the ship’s owner

paid about $160,000 in storage fees. It will probably turn up on restaurant

menus soon.

Pramok Urawan, a spokesman from the ship's agency, said the captain and

crew have since been replaced by three Spanish men, all of whom remain

aboard the vessel. He said the ship plans to sail to Indonesia.

“They’re just waiting to leave,” he said.

Quiz

1 Read the four statements below. Which two statements describe MAIN ideas from

the article?

1. The pirates will probably make $5 million off of the fish,

so the fine makes little difference.2. Chilean sea bass, like some other species of fish, are

very valuable and are overfished.3. The Australian government was unable to arrest those

aboard the Kunlun because of international waters laws.4. Many organizations work together to try to stop the

pirates' illegal activity and protect ocean life.

(A) 1 and 4

(B) 2 and 1

(C) 2 and 3

(D) 2 and 4

2 Which sentence from the article would be MOST important to include in a summary

of it?

(A) Four Thai customs agents in a gray speedboat slowly circle a rusty

fishing vessel a mile off the coast of Phuket.

(B) Environmental organizations and law enforcement authorities work

together to corner the pirates.

(C) By 2000, the U.S. government reported that two-thirds of the

Chilean sea bass on the market at that time had been caught

illegally.

(D) Pramok Urawan, a spokesman from the ship's agency, said the

captain and crew have since been replaced by three Spanish men,

all of whom remain aboard the vessel.

3 What does the section "Environmentalists, Officials Join Forces To Lower Boom On

Pirates" contribute to the article?

(A) It gives details about how the pirates are able to capture Chilean

sea bass.

(B) It details the problems with tracking down the pirates successfully.

(C) It explains what happens to the pirates after they are caught with

an illegal load of fish.

(D) It describes the regulations surrounding overfished species.

4 What is the relationship between the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] and the final

section of the article?

(A) The introduction presents a problem, and the final section gives

several potential solutions to the problem.

(B) The introduction presents a problem, and the final section explains

how the problem is difficult to solve.

(C) The introduction describes an important event, and the final section

describes why the event occurred.

(D) The introduction describes an important event, and the final section

makes a prediction about a future event.