![]() ![]() ![]() On September 9, a Taiwanese longline boat popped up on the Rainbow Warrior radar system, fishing in the high seas bordering Papua New Guinea and Nauru.īy the time we got close, the Shuen De Ching No. Such is the harsh reality of the fishing industry. It is hard to imagine people working in these conditions, often for as little as $300 per month, but for the people doing it it’s a way to earn a living, and for some a way to support their family.įor the more seasoned members of our documentation team, many of the boats we boarded looked pretty normal, maybe even better than average. It was a $20 dock in pay for drinking bottled water without the captain’s approval - that water was reserved exclusively for the officers, and the rest of the crew were required to drink from open, dirty jugs on the deck.Īnd although longline fishermen are often expected to work up to 17 hours a day, on this boat falling asleep on the job would cost them $100. On one boat, the fishermen were fined if they broke any of the rules listed on a scrap of paper, tacked to the wall. Cramped cabins, rusting fire extinguishers and little access to fresh water or even bathrooms comes with the territory of many longliners, which spend months and even years at sea with minimal maintenance.ĭinner on board Taiwanese longliner, Sing Man Yi 6, in the Pacific Ocean. In total, Greenpeace activists boarded nine boats throughout the tour: seven Chinese-flagged, and two Taiwanese-flagged.įood blogger Lauren Reid, a first-timer on board the Rainbow Warrior, joined activists on several of these trips.įor her, seeing the living conditions on longline boats was a rude awakening. You could sail for weeks without coming across another boat, making it easy for pirate fishing operations to be hidden at sea.īut having done seven other expeditions focusing on Pacific tuna fishing in previous years, the Greenpeace crew on the Rainbow Warrior has a fair idea where fishing boats lurk.įive days into the tour, and the night watch team spotted a glimmer of light reflected on the clouds in the distance - the first sign of a fishing vessel in this vast ocean. The sheer size of the Pacific Ocean can’t be underestimated. Tuna fisheries are out of control, and if something is not done to protect our Pacific tuna stocks urgently, this apex predator will slowly fade away. The discoveries made over the past two months have had promising knock-on-effects to tuna fisheries in the Pacific, and precedents have been set. It felt more than a little strange, that first step on solid ground.īut even though our work at sea is over, the efforts of people around the world involved in making it a success continues. Today we navigated into port in the small island state of Palau, drawing our Pacific tuna expedition to a close. While we’ve been lucky enough to observe the beauty of the ocean and the marine creatures that live here, we’ve also witnessed the shocking behaviour of an industry that is threatening it all. In 60 days, we’ve covered 7,400 miles of deep blue. This article, written jointly by the crew of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior, was originally published by Greenpeace International on September 24, 2015.
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