Posted by pribilof on 12/22/2008 01:08 am

As many of you know, in another life, I served as a Priest of the Holy Orthodox Church for about twenty years. I was happy. I knew my mission and I wallowed in it. As time went on, I stumbled and fell, behaving in ways unbecoming a person of my position, and so the Holy Synod of Bishops did me a blessing and releaved me of that awesome responsibility. For that love I am grateful. But, this is not what I wanted to talk about.

No matter whom and what we might believe in, either Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Mohammad as a Profit, Moses, or Budda, we all know there is right and wrong at play in this world. There is good and evil. In that line, and for those who will, it is our responsibility to root out evil, or bad, when we know of it. All of us know when that "something" is happening and present. We can sometimes feel it, taste it and know of its works. It is divisive, separating and not caring what it does. It rejoices in greed, division and suffering of others. Simply, evil or bad, celebrates our differences and uses those differences against us. This is common when we speak about resources and those who will take and take without any concern for those who do not have the ability to take advantage of its bounty. 

In our work, it seems, that division is particularly noticeable. We work day in and day out, trying to find a balance between the haves and the have nots. We struggle to make the playing field even for all. And sometimes we falter in our efforts, not because we no longer believe, but because as people we often come up against a brick wall. And we lose hope.  You see, if we do our work with good and pure intentions to right what is wrong, our work will be successful and we will not lose hope. But if we do our work with dark internal intentions of hurting another with a different opinion, we will lose hope and our work will not be good. Oh, we may have some victories, but they will be short lived. What we want to do is right wrongs, do good, and work for that end. Our mission as advocates is to walk a fine line, a sharp edged sword, to fulfill that goal. And it begins with purity of heart. I am doing this because it is right and for no other reason. If we save one species of plant or animal from extinction and have not a pure heart, our work is for naught. Examples abound. I with my work with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, others with climate change and forests and whales. We can only succeed with purity of mind and heart. Our reasons and efforts must be to teach and help others understand what is right and good. As my friend reminded me not too long ago, this kind of work will take time. I cried at those words because I had forgotten my mission. 

I know there are many who will "spin" this with thoughts and better arguments. I am not trying to convince you of my beliefs. I am simply asking that we think about this. This is not to say that I think we are doing otherwise, nor focusing on something I see we are either doing or not. Just saying something. Something to think about, because I do know, if what we do is not without truth and honesty, no matter what we do it will not work. 

As the season of peace and love draws and the promises of a new year appear, the promise of a new administration offer us hope, let us renew our efforts to work with honesty and truthfulness. Only in this way will we have any real success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by jhocevar on 12/11/2008 9:07 pm

As the delegates at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Korea negotiate tuna into extinction, our oceans team over there has been asking them to fill out this survey:

 

WHAT SORT OF FISHERIES MANAGER ARE YOU?

 

Your scientists tell you to end overfishing by reducing effort by 30%. Do you:
a) thank your scientists and reduce fishing effort by 30%
b) say “nya-nya-nya, I can’t hear you” and continue fishing at current levels
c) pretend you’re being responsible while in fact negotiating another year of 20% overfishing

 

You watch another fisheries commission fail miserably to save their stock from collapse and instead head towards commercial extinction. Do you:
a) learn from their mistakes and end overfishing immediately
b) follow them blindly in ignoring their scientists
c) imagine that you are different, your oceans are different and somehow you can continue overfishing without the same thing happening here

 

You discover that part of your fishing area is riddled with pirates and they are stealing fish from your legal fishing fleets. Do you:
a) ban fishing in those areas to flush the pirates out of your ocean
b) put in place even more complicated measures to create loopholes for the pirates to exploit
c) negotiate on behalf of your pet pirates and stop any measures being adopted that might upset them

 

What proportion of your delegation has vested interests in the fishing industry?
a) 0-40%
b) 40-60%
c) more than 60%

 

Where would you advise your fishing industry to invest their profits?
a) sound science and a sustainable management plan
b) more boats and bigger boats
c) parrots, eye patches and wooden legs

Posted by josef on 12/08/2008 7:27 pm

Here in Washington, DC, Monday morning commutes on the Metro can feel like a prison sentence.  So this past Monday morning, when over a dozen Greenpeace activists dressed in orange jumpsuits and boarded the Red line train to Dupont Circle, people probably had no idea what to think of us asking for a prison sentence of our own.

By the time our “chain gang” of fourteen reached the top of the escalators, we’d been joined by two whales carrying picket signs and Greenpeace USA’s esteemed executive director, John Passacantando.  We were heading to the Japanese chancery on Embassy Row with one message to the government of Japan:  If defending whales is a crime, then arrest us, too. 

On June 10th, 2008, the Japanese government arrested and detained two of my colleagues at Greenpeace Japan—Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki—for the “crime” of exposing a whale-meat embezzlement scandal.

In a matter of days on December 10, 2008, a group of executive directors from five Greenpeace national offices will travel to Japan to deliver their requests to Prime Minister Taro Aso of Japan.  This international delegation of Greenpeace executive directors will demand that Japan re-open the investigation of the whale meat scandal and of whaling itself.  And, like my fellow activists and I did this past Monday morning, these executive directors will put themselves forward as "co-defendants" with our colleagues Junichi and Toru.  December 10 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, and the declaration defines the rights of every human on the planet—including the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the right to a fair and public trial, and presumption of innocence.

Monday mornings might seem like our prison sentence, but our planet’s prison sentence lies in whaling and Japan’s jailing of average people like you, me, Junichi, and Toru, who are working hard to save the environment.  I hope you choose to join me and countless other activists around the world this week who are telling the Japanese government to arrest you, too, for the "crime" of saving the whales.

Your fellow activist,

Josef Palermo
Web Editor

Posted by pribilof on 12/05/2008 7:12 pm

I have just read the action alert sent out by my coworker John Hocevar, Director Ocean's Campaign, Starving For Your Help. I have worked with John going on four years now, mostly working on Alaska's vast Gulf and Seas, surrounding our Great Land. I am writing in total support of Mr. Hocevar's statements. 

As many, if not all of you know, I was born and raised on St. George Island, one of the two inhabited Pribilof Islands. These Islands are a wonderful place, not only for the richness of its wildlife, but imagine what it is like for the people, the Unangan (Aleut) who call this home. As a young Unangan boy, my entire life was surrounded by this richness. This is perhaps why I grew up to major in biology when I went to college. My life, as I understand now, was rich and filled with beauty. There were millions of fur seals, whales, stellar sea lion and countless millions of just about every marine birds one can imagine. That was just a short 30 years ago.

 Today, as John said, it is a totally different place. It is becoming bleak, forelorn, empty of its once abundance. We Unangan said: "God put us here to take care of His creation." This is what we believe. Sadly, we are not even close to the numbers of people, the money of large fishing companies with their lobbyests, nor close to having the political clout to fulfill this belief. 

 I ask you to please consider helping us and our fragile home. Often, as you know, seeing something is always preferable to reading about it. If you saw what these Islands and the Bering Sea is being turned into, you would understand what John and I are saying. 

Thank you very much for your help.

 

George Pletnikoff

Posted by pribilof on 10/12/2008 12:30 pm

Fishing Villages

It is very difficult for people to get an understanding of what happens to an entire village in Alaska that is dependent upon fishing for their economy.

It is said that for every fishing boat, most fishing boats in villages are under 55 feet in length, there are at least 10 jobs crated to support that boat. First, of course, is the crew. Usually on a boat this size, and depending upon what species of fish or crab they are fishing for, there is a crew of 5 people: the skipper and four deck hands. Then you have the fuel handlers, gear shops, grocery stores, and transportation industry. So you can see that in a village of 500 people, a lot of jobs in the support industry is created the more fishing boats there are in the village. Now, imagine that same scenario when we are talking about a billion-dollar a year industry such as there is in the pollock fishery. Together, in both the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, that billion-dollar fishing industry harvests approximately 3,000,000,000 pounds of fish. Three billions. Imagine, if you will, the amount of jobs created in a village when that amount of fish has to be caught, delivered and processed, then shipped to the markets. The amount of people and expense to do this is staggering. Now imagine what happens to that village if the total allowable catch is severely lowered by the fishery managers and then if that fishery collapses. Imagine what happens to that village. Worse yet, imagine what happens to the environment, the ecosystem if such a scenario were to materialize.

The other side of this picture is people living in villages who are not a part of this economic activity and way of life. They are, as was labeled by politicians several years ago, the silent majority. They are the people who work everyday in local jobs created by the State and Federal governments, the health care system, the municipal government and some by private business not necessarily related to the fishing industry. Often, the fishing industry is only a seasonal economy, as in the Bering Sea crab fishery, or the Bristol Bay salmon fishery.  These silent majorities work day in and day out, searching, hoping and planning on some semblance of the great American dream, that of being able to afford a Christmas tree, and all that that dream encompasses.

The silent majority of people in our villages supplement their incomes with cultural and ancestral activities. We go hunting, fishing and gathering for our foods. We go to the same places on the beach our ancestors have done for hundreds and thousands of years. We go, looking, searching and hoping for that sea lion, fur seal, walrus, duck, and other foods we grew up eating with our parents and grandparents, knowing of that security and the goodness of that life. We go to the familiar places to search for our spirit. We hear the voices of people long gone. We smile at the wisdom taught at this place, by people long revered. We are in a familiar place where life truly is lived. It is said that a gay person has no choice about their sexuality. The same is true about a person or people who live in that familiar place. We have no choice. It is a calling. It is life. It is, not a way to live, but simply life, such lived, above the noise of choices.

Fishery managers do not consider this life. Their only mission is to ensure that an industry has enough resource to continue. Here is where that mission, it seems to me with the problems of the pollock fishery, fails. Fishery managers rely on what they call best available science. Not sound science, but science that is best available to provide answers. What is that?

If the pollock fishery collapses, as the surveys done by National Marine Fisheries Service has shown, it will be because the fishery managers were wrong. Their best available science did not take into account the reality of what is on the ground. If and when this happens, it means entire ecosystems are in trouble, is suffering a stroke, or worst yet, a heart attack. We cannot call 911 for help. It does not work that way.

Now, consider this. If, because of this best available science, one community, one human spirit is killed, not only have we committed a crime against the environment, but worse, against another human being. We have snuffed out a spirit. We have committed cultural genocide, a holocaust. Where is the best available science, best available medicine, best available intentions, that’s going to repair that? As a friend of mine said: “Man is a spiritual being.” Best available person.

Posted by pribilof on 09/28/2008 01:35 am

Growing up on the beaches of St. George Island, one of the five Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, I remember combing the beaches. There was, and is, so much to be found. Glass balls, I even found a container with chopsticks, very fancy, that I took to the Governments Island Manager’s house to find out what it was, and lots of other debris that we thought interesting and valuable. And so, after large storms, we went out on our favorite beaches looking to see what was there.

I remember that as children, growing up on this little Island, we used to collect glass balls, little balls of glass about the size of softballs today, covered with woven net. This was a prize. We used to, as kids in school, brag about how many we found, what sizes, and sometimes where. We exchanged stories about them. We talked about what we did with them, what trinkets we made, how we glued them together to make Christmas trees, and how we used files, a steel tool used to sharpen other tools, to cut a slit in them to make banks. And in these banks we put our dimes, nickels, pennies and the occasional quarter to go to the company store, or canteen run by the United States Government to buy candy. And we wondered where they came from and what they were used for. We did not know. Now we know they were used to hold up the miles long nets on the surface of the water used to kill hundreds and thousands of animals, mostly for fish, but birds, seals, whales, and anything else that would come into contact with them. And they were used by either the Japanese or Taiwanese Governments. We know that now, but not then. And they were a prize.

As time flowed by, now into the 60’s and 70’s we began to see different things coming ashore on our Islands.  Along with the occasional coke bottle, plastic bottle, glove and basket, large pieces of net began to show up. Again, being on a small Island, we did not know what these things were being used for. So, as far as we were concerned, all of this debris was normal. After all, everyone else in the world, our small world to be sure, was going through the same thing. Sure. If it was happening here it was surely happening elsewhere. Or was it?

You see? What was happening during the 60’s and 70’s while beach combing, miles and miles, and yards and yards of monofiliment nets were used to catch fish. Nets made of plastics, which would never degrade, made of by products of oil, to stretch out over the Bering Sea to kill. We did not know that, but now we do. And kill they did. They did not fall apart or come loose. They were made of a product that would last years and years. And they would, even if those who put them into the water, the fishers lost them, continue to kill and kill until there was nothing else to kill. Whales, fish, birds, seals, walruses, plankton and seaweed, no matter what came into contact with them, they were doomed to death.

Today, in the 2000’s, not much has changed, really. We still comb the beaches of the Pribilof Islands, both St. Paul and St. George and pick up stuff. Now instead of glass balls and chop sticks, we pick up nets, plastic balls, plastic gloves, plastic, plastic, plastic. Pop can  rings used to hold a six pack together is common. Plastic nets, ropes, lines caught in and around the necks of curious fur seals is oh so frequent. Often the nets are so tight around the necks of these animals that their flesh shows because it cuts into their fur. Plastic whatever. Imagine it and we pick them up. I remember not too long ago when I first began working for Greenpeace that we were on St. Paul Island. I took my buds to see one of the long sandy beaches on the Island, to walk and talk. To discuss what it was that they expected of me, an Unangan person working for a conservation group, and how I expected to fit in. We walked the beach and talked. At one point, one of the guys/gals stopped to pick up a plastic something, handed to one of the other Greenpeace persons with me and said, now its your responsibility. I did not know what that meant. Come to find out, if you pick up some piece of trash, no matter what it is, and handed it over to another of your buds, that person was now responsible for it. Needless to say, I did not accept anything from anyone else on our walk.

Today, large nets are still used to kill. The difference now is, is that they are not left to drift out in the ocean to arbitrarily kill, but are focused. Its called “directed fishery.” I am gonna kill these fishes, but sadly in the process, hundreds of millions of metric tonns of non directed fishes, called by-catch, are killed also. But, this is legal. It is considered fishing for fish using the best available science.

You know how it is said? That no matter how much has changed, everything remains the same? It’s true. Today, instead of collecting glass balls, our Tribal Government of the Aleut Community of St. Paul cleans our beaches every year. They go out to the same beaches that I used to collect collectibles and collect trash, tons of trash. And its all plastic trash, made to never degrade.Look at  www.tribaleco.com/entang/

Instead of talking to our friends in school about making Christmas trees and glass ball banks with what we found on the beach, we are now talking about what kind of people live out there who allow this to happen. Who are they? What are there values? What are they thinking? Indeed, what are we thinking that we allow this to happen?

Posted by michellefrey on 09/24/2008 11:28 am

As an advocate for ocean conservation and admirer of majestic whales in the sea, I am really excited about a new movie that is opening in theaters on September 26th,  called Whaledreamers.

The movie is an uplifting and inspirational story about indigenous cultures in Australia and their positive relationship with whales.

While countries like Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to hunt whales for greedy profit it is nice to see a story like this to help restore your faith in humanity.

Instead of decimating whale populations and profiting from their blood, these indigenous cultures look for ways to live in harmony with the whales and their surrounding environment.

From watching previews, the movie looks to have some beautiful underwater footage that will move chills down your spine. You will fall in love with whales all over again.

Julian Lennon produces the movie and he even has a great song in there that will get your toe tapping. Looks like the movie might be in limited release, so check your local theater to see if it’s coming to your town.

In addition to being a cool story to watch, the movie also provided the inspiration for this year's Weekend of Unity & Peace taking place from October 24-26. The fundraising events are intended to increase awareness and advocacy for groups such as Greenpeace and, the important issues the film covers. If you want to participate in the festivities, visit this website for more information: www.unityandpeace.org.

To watch a preview, check movie times or learn more about the movie, check out their website.

-- Michelle

Posted by melanie_d on 09/19/2008 1:31 pm

John McCain consistently and falsely says that offshore oil drilling is safe, and that drill rigs have withstood Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike without any significant damage or oil spills.  The facts tell a very different story.

Most recently, Hurricane Ike barreled through the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Minerals Management Service, as of September 15, 2008, 28 of the 3,800 offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico had been destroyed, and several other platforms were significantly damaged. On September 16, the oil drilling company Rowan announced one of its drill rigs was missing, and that it had likely capsized and sunk due to Hurricane Ike.  

Yet on September 17 McCain stated he’d visited an oil rig in the Gulf, it survived the hurricane, it was safe and sound, and fish were swimming all around it. Clearly McCain visited a rig that escaped damage, but it’s a tremendous disservice to spin this visit in a way that leads people to believe there was no damage.

It’s not the first time McCain lied about the impact of hurricanes on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In June, McCain said, “As for offshore drilling, it’s safe enough these days that not even Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could cause significant spillage from the battered rigs off the coasts of New Orleans and Houston.” Yet the US Coast Guard reported that there were over 9 million gallons of oil released from six major and five medium spills (for comparison’s sake, the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil), and the Minerals Management service reported that Hurricane Rita destroyed 46 platforms and damaged 20 others, while Hurricane Rita destroyed 69 platforms and damaged 32 others.

Not so insignificant, is it?

Now, to be fair, the 9 million gallons spilled as a result of Katrina and Rita were not spilled from offshore rigs. The oil was spilled from onshore tanks and pipelines that failed or ruptured. However, it’s not possible to drill offshore in the Gulf without an extensive network of tanks, pipelines, refineries and other infrastructure. Just as it’s not possible to talk about hurricane damage to oil industry infrastructure without including onshore damage.

More offshore oil drilling will only lead to more oil spills, pollution and global warming. And global warming is the very thing that supercharges storms like Katrina, Rita and Ike, which in turn causes major oil spills and extensive damage to oil industry infrastructure. It’s a vicious cycle that any Senator should approach with true solutions to global warming and this country’s energy crisis: energy efficiency so that we get more out of every drop of oil, and a new vision for US energy that relies on renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind and phases out addiction to oil.

Posted by pribilof on 09/11/2008 2:08 pm

When the fishing gear, be they larger than football field sized nets that drag the oceans floor for fish, crab pots, longline fishing hooks, or other gear used to catch and kill fish, much more than fish are being destroyed. Lets look at one of them. The deep-sea trawlers that hunt and search for pollock and other flat fishes.

The first major commercial groundfish fishery in the Gulf of Alaska targeted Pacific Ocean perch. The size of the catch rose quickly through the early 1960’s until the resource was depleted.  The fishery then began targeting walley pollock. As happened with perch, the catch of pollock rose gradually through 1980 when a large spawning aggregation was discovered in the waters off of Kodiak Island. Over the next 5 years the spawning aggregation was heavily exploited and the fishery peaked and collapsed. (Trites 1991).

The same picture can be painted for these fisheries in the Bering Sea. Yellowfin sole catches rose from 1954 to 1961 until the stock declined due to overfishing. As the yellowfin sole declined, the fishery moved to pollock. (Trites 1991).

Now we know that the pollock fishery in the Kodiak waters, the Bogoslov Island waters, and the Aleutian Islands have either been shut down due to overfishing or their catchable amounts severely cut because of overfishing. So what’s new? Outside multinational fishing companies see an opportunity to exploit beyond reason, come into our waters and destroy. Sounds like a familiar tune when discussing other resources in our Great State? Oil and gas, minerals, forests, salmon populations and sadly, people.


Its beginning to sound like a problem that needs some serious attention from our state and federal governments. After all, our governments lay claim to represent all the people of both our State and Nation. Oh ya, we do have such oversight boards and councils. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Alaska Board of Fish (ABF) are legally charged with that responsibility. And to help in these processes, Advisory Councils are put in place to help give direction. NMFS has the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) and the ABF has regional advisory Councils. But guess what? The NPFMC and the ABF are stocked, not with fish, but with commercial fishing representatives and interests to make these decisions. And these councils and boards are ripe for the plucking. Industry lobbyists and lawyers often wine and dine these “representatives of the people’s resource” to get their quotas, no matter the science. And they often get their way. Take a quick look at the NPFMC’s web site and see who the Council members are and whom they work for.

&ldquorill, baby, drill” is not a new cry for resource development at any cost. In the 1980’s and 1990’s and up to this day it has been “fish, baby, fish” before there are no more fish to catch. With the problems of climate change, other animals’ populations crashing and people being dislocated, it is time to reappoint “representative” people to these councils and boards. Industry greed and ways of doing business has got to stop. There is a lot of talk these days about reform. If ever an industry needed reform, this is it.

Just last year, the NPFMC cut the total amount of pollock catch a whopping 24% from the year before! If that same amount of decline were done to, say, the oil and gas industries, you would hear a loud cry from the public. We need to pay close attention to the reasons for this kind of management of our resources. One of the reasons given for the drastic cut the pollock fishery took was lack of recruitment. Oh ya. I forgot to tell you that twice a year, millions of pounds of pollock roe, the caviar of the Bering Sea, is auctioned off to a hand full of “by invitation only” companies.
“Fish, baby, fish.”

This is the people’s resource put into the trusting hands of appointed Councils. We must hold them accountable. They work for us, not the industry.

Posted by michellefrey on 08/27/2008 4:01 pm

The North Atlantic right whale is very rare—there are only about 300 in existence today. Recent news that these magnificent whales may finally get a helping hand highlights the sad, sad state of the right whales. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials released a final analysis to slow down ship speeds and use shipping routes that avoid whale grounds along the U.S. east coast where the whales live.

But, what does this “final analysis” really do for the whales? Well, nothing right now.  In my mind it is like being engaged. There is the “promise” to get married, but also the possibility for the couple to go their separate ways. And, just how long will the engagement last? NOAA has promised to save the right whales, but how long will their “engagement” last? Will they elope and have the regulations enacted tomorrow, or will it drag on and on for months or years?

Did I mention that there were only 300 right whales left on the planet? Right whales have been fighting for increased protections for years and years. I remember going to a public testimony, probably about two or three years ago on this very same issue. NOAA had an open comment period and I was on hand to present thousands of public petitions in support of saving the right whales. But, sadly, there haven’t been any increased protections—just the promise that some day there might be. Is this good enough?

A 44-foot right whale washed up on a beach in Massachusetts on March 11th of this year. A ship strike is the probable cause of death.

Oh, and if these regulations do get implemented the U.S. government made some exemptions. The U.S. Navy is exempt from these rules about slowing down. And, the regulations will only be in place for five years—that is unless another round of “red tape” and bureaucratic analysis takes place.

While the government continues to use every stall tactic in the book, right whales continue to swim in harms way. Ship strikes are the largest known cause of death for the endangered North Atlantic right whale, particularly baby calves.

I have been lucky to see two right whales in my lifetime. One was during a whale watching adventure in New England (where I got insanely sunburned) and the other is a “squishy” toy that a colleague got for me. I hope my children will be able to see real right whales and not just the toy sitting up on my desk.

--Michelle

Posted by pribilof on 08/26/2008 10:06 am

Greenpeace applauds the decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) to limit bottom trawl fisheries in the northern Bering Sea. Any cutback on this destructive fishery practice is welcome news. However, in this case, it’s misleading.

Industrial fishing, with the exception of the use of bottom trawlers, will continue in these areas. And provisions included in the decision raise alarm bells that plans may be in the making to eventually re-open the area to bottom trawlers to do their damage.

Bottom trawl lobbyists are pressuring the NPFMC to open more of this “northern boundary” because, as they themselves have testified before the Council, the fish are moving north due to climate change, and their boats have to travel further north to find fish. The other reason, one which they are not talking about, is that heavy fishing pressure in the southern Bering Sea has dramatically reduced populations of many groundfish stocks.

The size of the closure area is also misleading. As with the Aleutian Island bottom trawl closure adopted previously, a large percentage of this area of no trawl fishing is in an area where no fishing has taken place due to its depth and distance from on shore processors. No one fished there anyway. So while this is a forward-looking and precautionary step, action is urgently needed to address damage from bottom trawling that is occurring now in known coral and sponge habitats.  

Incorporating Greenpeace research, NOAA has identified several deep sea coral areas that currently lack protection. Last year, Greenpeace used submarines and a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) to survey seafloor habitats in two underwater canyons along the highly productive Bering Sea shelf break. Zhemchug Canyon, the world’s largest, had never been explored.  We found at least 14 species of coral, and more than 20 species of sponge – including one that was previously unknown to science. Alarmingly, we also saw documented considerable evidence of fishing impacts – trenches dug through the seafloor, and broken and overturned corals.

Virtually none of the Bering Sea or Gulf of Alaska is protected from all fishing, despite the growing body of evidence of the value of marine reserves in fisheries management.  Fully protected marine reserves can help speed the recovery of fish stocks and degraded habitats, and have proven to increase yields in surrounding areas due to a spillover effect. By serving as experimental controls, marine reserves can also help us understand the impacts of climate change on our oceans and fisheries.

It’s time for the NPFMC to take a more ecosystem-based approach, and to protect the habitats that sustain Alaska’s fisheries. So far, most of what we’ve seen has looked good on paper but has had little impact on the status quo. And in the meantime, fish stocks continue to dwindle, critical habitat continues to be destroyed, and fishing communities continue to await relief.


-- George

Posted by michellefrey on 08/19/2008 4:33 pm

In certain regions of the Gulf of Mexico, there is not enough oxygen in the water to support marine life. Fish either suffocate or relocate to other areas. And, it’s not a tiny little area—it’s a big area we’re talking about. It is around 8,000 square miles, that’s about the size of New Jersey. But, what happened to the oxygen? Where’d it all go? Scientists point north, hundreds of miles up the Mississippi River to corn country.

Up in corn country, farmers use a boatload of chemicals to make their cornfields more productive. Two chemicals that are of particular concern are nitrogen and phosphorous. They are used in many fertilizers. But, when the rain shows up to nourish these crops, the water causes the fertilizers to runoff the farmland and into the mighty Mississippi River.

And, with this summer’s historic flooding in the Midwest, even more runoff from farms has been going into the mighty Mississippi. And, all of this creates a mighty mess once it gets to the Gulf of Mexico.

Just imagine how much fertilizer makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico? The Mississippi River collects all these chemicals throughout its entire length and all of it ends up in one place—the Gulf of Mexico.

Like I mentioned above, the fertilizers are used to help crops grow—well, the same is true for making algae grow in the Gulf of Mexico. These fertilizers land in the Gulf and the algae just love it. They go crazy for it and there are algae blooms and the algae grows like wild!

When all the algae die and fall to the bottom of the seafloor, this is where the story takes a turn for the worst. The algae dies and decomposes—but, since decomposition requires oxygen to make it “work” these huge masses of dying algae consume oxygen, and lots of it.

So much oxygen is taken from the sea that sealife suffocates and dies. The poor slow-moving creatures like clams, small crabs and snails have little chance to escape the oxygen-depleted waters.

Fishermen and environmentalists are actually on the same page and working together to fight this problem. Fishermen see their livelihood vanishing just like the fish in the Gulf and environmentalists want to restore the balance of the sea.

And, the Gulf of Mexico isn’t the only place where dead zones are occurring—these dead zones are scattered all across the globe.

--Michelle

 

 

Posted by michellefrey on 08/15/2008 12:14 pm

When I hear a piece of news, I usually take it with a grain of salt. So, earlier in the week when I read an article about humpback whale populations making an incredible recovery, let’s just say I was very skeptical. The reason I was skeptical, is because time and time again we hear that animals are taken off the endangered species list—only to help developers build in a certain area or air quality standards get relaxed, not because of “so-called” improved air, but because industry wants to loosen emission regulations.

Recently, the IUCN (World Conservation Union) reported that humpback whales have downgraded from Vulnerable to Least Concern, meaning it is at low risk of extinction.

I am really happy that humpback whales are doing much better! And, the credit goes to conservation efforts and the fact that humpbacks have been protected from commercial hunting.

But, my worry is now that the humpback whale has been “down-graded” some of their protections will be lifted. They will receive less habitat protection and many will feel that they are now in the running for commercial hunting once again. Why waste all the good work protecting them, just to go back in and decimate their populations again?

It’s also interesting to note that while some species have started to recover, no whale population has reached the level it had before industrial whaling began. Whales species are either recovering very slowly, or not recovering at all. Clearly, commercial whaling is neither sustainable nor necessary in the 21st century.

I hope the news of the humpback recovery is just the beginning! If resources continue to be put towards recover efforts and commercial whalers can keep their “hands-off”—then, it truly will be a good day for the humpbacks.

--Michelle

Posted by pribilof on 08/10/2008 11:49 am

One of the most used comments bantered in the halls of the hotels where the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) holds their meetings where many of the decisions are already decided with the big, wild, commercial fishing industry with the public is “best available science.” The NPFMC usually holds their meetings at the Hilton hotel in Anchorage four times a year. And, although no one says it, the process is a “good ol boys” conference. My brother is fond of telling me; the industry writes the regulations. But, even though the cards are stacked up against me and others who have concerns and try to offer alternatives toward habitat protections, I attend. Its part of my responsibility. I often feel like my attendance is futile and a waste of time. Anyway, “best available science.”

The use of that term as an acceptable tool to manage our fisheries seems to me is like saying: “best available truth.” Remember the most famous question ever asked in all of humanity? “What is truth?” And so I wonder, what is “best available science. What does that mean and how does that help our people in the villages?”

Well, NPFMC, Mr. Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez of the U.S. Department of Commerce, we have a problem. What does your “best available science” or “best available truth” tell you about our out of control salmon by catch problems in Western Alaska? The problem is this. Really huge, large, big industrialized fishing machines, called boats, use huge, large, big nets and go out into the waters of southern Bering Sea, just north of the Alaska Peninsula to fish for 3.2 billion pounds of pollock, the total allowable catch from both the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. And as they vacuum up these fish, a very important food source of the foods we depend upon for our survival, they “accidentally catch”  hundreds of thousands, and millions of salmon during the past 30 years, in their pursuit of happiness. This is by catch. In 2004, they caught, as far as we know, 63,000 king salmon. In 2005, 75,000 kings. Chum salmon took a huge hit. In 2004, 447,000 chums, and in 2005, 700,000 chums. That’s according to their best available truth. If I remember correctly, in 2007, they said they caught 117,000 king salmon while in pursuit of happiness, their happiness. Never mind our people’s food security in our villages that depend on these fish for survival. The song and dance is getting old. Outside multinational fishing companies, meeting with the federal government in a hotel somewhere destroying our home. Destroying our dreams. Destroying our children. And saying, well, sorry. It’s legal. It may be, but it is immoral.

A really good friend of mine once told me: “our commercial fishing season for king salmon on the Kuskokwim River lasted for 60 minutes, all year!” And he has a family, Children. And he cannot do anything, anything about it, because like you and me, he is poor. He cannot afford to attend one of them meetings in a hotel somewhere to testify for three minutes about his concerns, nor, like you and me, he cannot afford a lawyer or a lobbyist. And so, he hears “best available science” spoken from reputable scientists and NPFMC members. And to further add salt to the wound, the Council will say, we are only an advisory council. Mr. Gutierrez makes the final decision. Know what? Uncle Ted in his wisdom thru the Magnuson Stevens Act set it up like this.

Well, the NPFMC says they have a solution to deal with this salmon by catch, stolen fish problem. Here it is, in brief. Lets not force our good buddies who go out to the Bering Sea to fish for a share of the 3.2 billion pounds of pollock they catch every year to suffer to much. After all, they are our buds. Lets let them continue stealing food from the people on the Kuskokwim River, but, really, not too much. Lets put a cap on how much they can take out of the mouths of our children. Now, really. And further, lets let one of the biggest fishing companies who participate in this immoral practice, Trident Seafoods, give that fish to Bean’s Café to feed the hungry. Peter stealing from Paul to feed people? And now, others are caught up in their circle of destruction, being used to make themselves feel better about what they are doing and getting a huge tax write off to boot. See how this “best available science” and “best available truth” works? And so the question: “what is truth?”

The only real solution to this problem is stop it. Stop the insane practice of by catch. Stop raiding our people’s food. Stop. And use your “best available science” to figure out how not to do it any more. After all, you use that statement to justify what you do. And, in many cases, you give the scientists who use that statement, grants to provide research to justify that behavior. We the people in Western Alaska have had enough of supporting your pursuit of happiness. We need to pursue ours and that of our children. Please, level the playing field. Your quarterbacks are just too “best available.” You can afford it. We cannot even afford to feed our children.


George Pletnikoff is Unangan from the Pribilof Islands. He now works for Greenpeace as the Alaska Oceans Campaigner in Anchorage. He can be reached at george.pletnikoff@greenpeace.org

Posted by michellefrey on 08/01/2008 2:52 pm

Growing up, I always loved listening to Bryan Adams. I think I may have even had a couple posters of him hanging up on my bedroom walls. So, when I found a YouTube video of him being interviewed by the BBC and wearing a Release Junichi and Toru t-shirt I just had to share it with everyone.

Junichi and Toru are Greenpeace anti-whaling activists who were being held for 23 days without charge for uncovering a whale meat smuggling scandal in Japan. Currently, the activsts are out on bail and awaiting trial. You can read more about their story on the Greenpeace website.

I'll post the video up here, but after watching the video for 8 minutes, the talk show hosts don't even ask him about the t-shirt. How upsetting. But, hopefully people will want to learn more and will be able to google it and find the Greenpeace information.

 

Posted by michellefrey on 07/25/2008 2:50 pm

Yesterday, Ahold (aka Giant, Stop&Shop and Martin's Food Markets) announced they are going to stop selling orange roughy, Chilean sea bass and shark.  These 3 fish rank among the most imperiled on the Greenpeace seafood red list.

It was kind of wild to hear that people are still eating shark and it’s being sold in stores, but I’m excited that Giant Foods has committed themselves to removing these fish from their seafood counters. It’s a great step in the right direction for protecting the oceans.

In a ranking report released last month, Greenpeace called on the top U.S. supermarkets to improve their seafood purchasing policies and move towards sustainable seafood practices. It looks like Ahold got the message and is willing to improve their store practices to help the oceans.

You can encourage the other top U.S. supermarkets to get in the game by taking action today and writing them a letter!

-- Michelle

Posted by jhocevar on 07/15/2008 1:07 pm

Covering nearly 70% of the surface of the planet, the oceans are not escaping the impacts of global warming. Bleaching is threatening our spectacular tropical coral reefs, and melting sea ice is reducing critical habitat for seals, polar bears, and other marine mammals. And everywhere in between, rising temperatures are starting to change currents, migration patterns and even species composition. The fish that used to live in a particular area are often no longer there. On top of that, acidification, global warming’s evil twin, is turning the oceans into a corrosive bath that is rapidly becoming inhospitable to clams, corals, and everything else that forms a calcareous skeleton.

So when Randy Olson asked me to review his new movie, a “global warming comedy,” I have to admit I was curious to see where he was going to find the humor in all this. As it happens, Sizzle is a very funny film, sometimes even spit-out-your-drink funny.

Similar to Randy’s last film, Flock of Dodos, which focused on Intelligent Design, Sizzle tries to grapple with questions about the causes of global warming, the seriousness of the problem, and the degree to which humans can do anything about it. For Randy, the hordes of scientists involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and most people who read the news, these are not controversial topics. The science is clear: global warming is happening, humans are a major cause, and we can and must do something to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.

Of course, some people don’t see it that way, and Randy takes his low budget camera crew out to get their stories. Other than the guy who works for Okie Senator James Inhofe, who looked like an attack dog in search of someone to bite, the climate skeptics come across as surprisingly nice guys (if occasionally hapless). Most of these interviews are followed with a scene with Randy muttering “that’s not true” or “he’s got it all wrong,” and there are some strong segments from scientists like Naomi Oreskes, but in general there’s not much of an effort to debunk the skeptics. The sense you get is that there’s really no need – everyone knows the truth already. But if that’s true, why bother with the skeptics at all?

So I was left wishing for a little more exploration of the forces behind the skeptics. Greenpeace has researched this in depth, showing how leading climate skeptics tend to be funded by ExxonMobil. If something smells funny, follow the money.

Dr. Oreskes saves the day by convincing the crew to abandon plans to film yet another scientist and to go to New Orleans instead. In the most emotionally compelling part of the film, Randy and his crew see firsthand the impacts of the kind of disasters global warming will cause. The film points out that the biggest victims will be poor people, whether in Africa or in the richest nation on earth.

If there’s a take home message, other than the fact that it IS possible to find humor in even the most dire topics, it may be a reminder that it’s probably not going to be the newest data, powerpoint slides, or speeches from scientists that convince people to take action. The stories are there, but we may need more story tellers like Randy if we’re going to wake people up in time.

John H

Posted by greenpeace7 on 07/03/2008 11:11 am

A group of Japanese lawyers watching over human rights abuse around the G8 Summit has issued a statement about the arrest and detention of Greenpeace activists. The activists were arrested after exposing a whale meat smuggling scandal in Japan.

The following is the lawyers' statement:

Lawyers' Network for Human Rights Observation around the G8 Summit (WATCH)

On April 20, 2008, Aomori Prefectural Police and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Public Security Division arrested two Greenpeace Japan activists for theft and trespassing. The activists are accused first of stealing a cardboard box that contained the meat of a whale harvested by a Japanese scientific whaling ship, and which had been stored in a delivery company in Aomori; and secondly they are accused of handing over the stolen whale meat to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office. The police also searched Greenpeace offices as part of their investigation.

According to the arrested activists, their act was not a mere act of theft or trespassing, rather it was intended as a denouncement of the embezzlement of whale meat by the crew of a scientific whaling ship financed with tax payers' money. Furthermore, the activists had already submitted a report in which they disclosed the details of their plan. Also they had declared that they were willing to appear at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office anytime. There was therefore no reason to suspect that they would conceal evidence or that they would flee; this removes the justifications for the detention of the two activists.

Despite this lack of legal premises for detention, the Aomori Prefectural Police and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Public Security Division are still detaining the activists, an act which is unjust, illegal and illegitimate.

This spectacle on the eve of the G8 Summit has provoked expressions of concern in different parts of the society. Both mass media and activists are concerned that the police intend to intimidate the whole civil movement. The evening paper of Niigata Nippo as of June 20th says: "It is disturbing that there could be a link between the arrests and the G8 Summit. The police behavior can be interpreted as a warning against radical civil organisations which do not refrain from illegal acts to achieve their aims. If this assumption is true, it is very alarming (...) The implementation of law should be strict, but with no political intentions."

It is clear that the police intend to intimidate the civil movement before the G8 Summit by carrying out disproportionate control, even if it means risking international protests on the eve of the Summit. The fact that the Public Security Police lead the investigation underlines this stance.

The arrest of the two activists is not only a human rights violation with regard to the unjustifiable arrest, detention and investigation, but also a challenge against the freedom of expression. Police repression against the activists' denunciation obstructs the legitimate activities of both Japanese civil society and international society and is therefore internationally unacceptable and subject to global criticism as an affront to humanity.

The Lawyers' Network for Human Rights Monitoring around the G8 Summit is concerned that this incident will obstruct the use of freedom of speech, the protest activities and the denunciation activities concerning crimes against public interest. It thereby strongly demands that free activities and free spaces granted in the Japanese Constitution de jure be guaranteed de facto.

TAKE ACTION 

 

Posted by michellefrey on 06/27/2008 11:30 am

You may have noticed the news on the Greenpeace website about two activists that were arrested in Japan for their undercover work to expose a stolen whale meat scandal as part of Greenpeace's campaign to save the whales.

These two activists are still in jail and are being detained without a formal charge. In order to put pressure on the Japanese government to release these innocent activists, Greenpeace is having a demonstration at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC. I'll be joining them. If you work in the DC area, I encourage you to take a couple minutes on your lunchbreak to join in too. The more people that show up, the better!

--Michelle

 

Posted by greenpeace7 on 06/24/2008 11:29 am

This is a rough translation of the final blog that Junichi Sato wrote before he was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat, itself stolen from the Japanese taxpayers, that he presented to police as evidence of widescale fraud in the whaling industry:

June 20 2008

Whale Meat Embezzlement News No.11: toward IWC and G8

It is sad but it seems like this is the last update of this blog for a while. Last night TV news reported that Aomori police would arrest us.

As I have been continuously saying publicly, I will keep supporting and helping the investigation of what we have done and of the embezzlement of whale meat by the Nisshin Maru’s crew.

We have been helping the investigation. For example, we gave written reports of what we have done to Aomori police, even before I was asked.

I will continue in this supporting spirit.

One month has passed since we revealed the whale meat embezzlement. We have received many supporting and opposing opinions from many people since then. We were even contacted by someone who had further information about the whale meat embezzlement.

Every opinion and all information is very important. Please keep sending it to us.

As my knowledge of the embezzlement grows deeper and deeper, I have re-realized that the corruption runs deep in the research whaling program, which has been conducted by Amakudai-politicians with more than 10,000,000,000 yen in tax money.

Our arrest was reported when this major corruption began to become clear.

I wish this to be a good chance for the Japanese people to think again about the research whaling with a calm mind.

It is true that the whaling issue is not as famous as many other issues. When the whaling issue is discussed, it tends to conclude something like “Whaling is Japanese culture” ”We do not want to prohibit eating whales by Westerners.”

This kind of cheap and easy discussion has become a curtain for the corruption to hide behind.

We should think, as taxpayers, if there is a necessity to use our tax money to conduct this research whaling, which only a very few people profit from.

I want to ask to hearts of people who has been involved to this embezzlement.

Is it OK to keep being silent?

There are many people who know about it.

There was a whale meat eating party at Nagata-Cho(governmental and political center city) on 11 June. Rich whale meat was served to many invited politicians. The whaling is supposed to be “scientific.” Do you think there is no problem using the byproduct this way?

Japanese whaling will be discussed at the IWC starting from next week. It will be interesting to see how the Japanese government will act.

It is certain that the centre of people’s interest will be if Japan can protect the Southern Ocean cooperated with international bodies.

I believe that the crews of Nisshin Maru should contribute to the non-lethal cetacean research since they have special skills and experiences. I believe this is the positive resolution. Prime Minister Fukuda, what do you think about launching a scientific research proposal which includes the impact of global warming in the Antarctic before G8 meeting?

If Japan really wants to be a leading country in environmental issues, I ask the Japanese government to deal in a way which shift this international conflict to international co-operation.

Please support a true discussion about this whaling issue.

I would appreciate it if you would read all my back blogs about the embezzlement.

I believe and hope the Tokyo Prosecutor’s office will reveal the truth.

Greenpeace Japan

Junichi Sato

Junichi is being held without charge in a small whaling town. Demand his release:
http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start/203/

 

Posted by michellefrey on 06/18/2008 11:34 am

It’s no secret, I hate grocery shopping. It has turned into a weekly chore that I dread and try to get through as quickly as I possibly can. I know I need food to eat for the week, but there are ultimately too many food choices for me to make and too many people cluttering the aisles.

As a consumer, buying up products at the supermarket, I have a say in what kind of products do well or fail miserably. And, now a new Greenpeace report shines a light on how seafood purchases do just that. If supermarkets sell endangered fish, we buy these poor fish and the need to continue fishing for them continues.

It’s amazing how much seafood sales affect the oceans. Greenpeace put together a red list of fish that are in jeopardy. By encouraging supermarkets to keep these fish off the shelves, the oceans can become healthier and more robust. But, I’m sure that’s not an easy task. Supermarkets rely on the bottom line and need to stay profitable.

This is where us consumers can flex our muscles! Even if you hate grocery shopping, like I do, you can pass up the red list fish next time you’re at the supermarket. You can even badger the supermarket manager each time you visit to encourage them to stop selling seafood that is damaging the oceans. It’s worth a try.

Another cool thing I noticed on the Greenpeace site was the ability to check out (pun intended) how your supermarket stacked up in their new report. They looked at what kind of seafood each supermarket sold and how sustainable their purchasing practices were. It looks like all the stores failed, but some failed less miserably than others did.

The oceans seem so vast and limitless. But, when I hear about the destruction that’s going on, I wonder what the heck can I do to help! And, now I’ve found at least one way I can contribute to promoting healthier oceans and a more sustainable future.

-Michelle

 

Posted by jessmil on 05/26/2008 11:10 am

Posted by jessmil on 05/22/2008 11:04 am

When I have time I love standing at the bow and watching the waves. Sometimes hundreds of flying fish rise up out of the water all at once and glide over the surface ahead of our ship for an astonishing distance before disappearing into the big blue. I'm always hoping to see dolphins but I haven't been as lucky as some of the crew - yet. We've seen quite a few birds too and even had a brown footed booby stay with us for 2 days. I was delighted to have an animal on board but the deck crew weren't happy about it at all. By the time the booby left I realised why... the deck underneath the mast at the bow was totally covered in bird poo.

Living and working on board is very different to being on land. Each day, before anyone starts their job - the toilets, showers, alleyways, mess, laundry and lounge all need to be cleaned and everyone is expected to share these duties. On Saturdays we give everything a special, big clean. Sakyo signed up to do the showers last Saturday while I was scrubbing the alleyways. The drains needed to be opened up and this brought out the most disgusting smell I have ever come across. I had to try really hard not resurrect my cheese toastie but Sakyo went right inside one of the showers and closed the door in order to give it a good clean. I thought he might actually die in there and was about to attempt a rescue operation when he surprisingly came out by himself - looking a dodgy shade of green I might add. If anyone is thinking of working on board a Greenpeace ship - my advice to you would be to avoid cleaning showers on Saturdays - at all costs.

Lately I've had a craving for orange juice but haven't seen any since I arrived on board so I went to ask the cook with the cutest face I could possibly muster and managed to get my hands on some grapefruit juice (a triumph in itself!). As I poured myself a cup of liquid gold I immediately attracted several other crew members towards me like honeybees to nectar. It's funny how so many things that you take for granted on land suddenly end up being a treasured rarity at sea. Last night I opened up the fridge and found a bottle of organic orange juice in there. I felt like I had won the jackpot on a slot machine! Perhaps there is an orange juice fairy on board who has finally granted me a wish I have been silently making every morning.

Another treat we had was when the folks on board from Japan and Korea made an Asian feast. I pitched in and Sakyo showed me how to make vegetarian sushi. It's actually a lot easier than I thought and we managed over 30 long rolls with different fishless fillings. The crew absolutely loved it and the cook enjoyed a well deserved evening off.

The ship has been getting a makeover while we've been on the move - and a lot of new paint has gone on (obviously it's important to look good while saving the planet!) but now we're all gearing up for action again. As I write this the paintbrushes are being packed away and Dingo, our helicopter pilot, is pulling the covers off Tweety.

I'd better go and get ready

             - Lisa 

Posted by jessmil on 05/18/2008 12:28 pm

Solomon Islands talk about the impact of overfishing on their country and their lives.

Posted by jessmil on 05/16/2008 12:03 pm

oceans campaigner.

Our work reaches out to the 20 Pacific Island countries in this region to move towards a sustainable and equitable fishery. I am from Fiji and as a Pacific Islander allow me to point out that the Pacific is about to hit a catastrophe with the global tuna industry that could see an end to our poor countries' economy and most importantly the livelihoods of my fellow pacific islanders.

Let me give you some shocking facts about the Pacific and I will tell you a bit about why Greenpeace is here in the Pacific and why we do what we do best and that is confront the truth, tell the world by bearing witness and speak the unspoken.

The Pacific contains the last relatively healthy tuna fishery left in the world. Most of our island countries have nothing else but their huge ocean resources to survive on both as an economic need and an important livelihood that most of our people depend on for survival. The ocean for us defines and makes us who we are and I see that this is slowly being taken away from us.

Posted by jessmil on 05/15/2008 4:18 pm

Posted by jessmil on 05/13/2008 4:19 pm

Posted by jessmil on 05/09/2008 3:04 pm

I was on standby from 5.30am but it wasn't until 11.00am that we we finally got close to the reefer. Being on standby for that long really starts to get to you, The tension and the adrenaline really puts you on the line.

Boats were launched and we took off towards the reefer, radio contact was done already and Lagi our campaign leader came with us. When we arrived at the reefer some of our crew were welcomed on board. The captain and crew were very helpful and even our photographers were allowed on the reefer, which was really nice of the captain. I stayed in the inflatable for a while and bobbed alongside the ship for about 2 hours and then finally the radio contact was made asking me, my wantok Danny (from Papua New Guinea) and Sakyo (a Japanese activist) to also board the ship.

We managed to get on the boat without any mishap and I am still surprised that I actually climbed up that ladder because I am afraid of heights. But with the encouragement from my fellow crew on board the African Queen I managed to climbed up that ladder with shaky knees! Thank you Helena for your patience and encouragement from the rest of the team. We were invited to go down to the cooler which was half full with tuna of various sizes. We climbed down the ladder to document the cargo of tuna in there.

Being in the cooler, I got a close look at all the fish and it made me really sad because the smallest tuna that I could see was the size of my palm. No wonder there is a decline in the tuna stock because these foreigners took whatever size of tuna that they could get their hands on. I was filled with rage when I came out of the cooler I had to sit down for a while to get my emotions back together. In order for the Pacific to have tuna stocks for our children tomorrow we need to act now.

Images © Greenpeace/Paul Hilton

Posted by jessmil on 05/08/2008 4:52 pm

So i have to apologize for not posting recently.  Sadly, my time on the Esperanza has come to a close, for now.  I am back in Washington DC and watching the rest of the tour from here.  As the Esperanza continues to defend the Pacific, I will do my best to keep you all informed.  Let me know if there are questions you have about what I post and I'll do my best to get answers from the crew.  Stand by everyone, this fight is far from over! 

Posted by jessmil on 04/23/2008 5:59 pm

Last night, as the sun was setting, I got my first glimpse of land in 3 weeks. When I woke up, I could see that we were passing islands. The Esperanza pulled into Honiara, Solomon Islands this morning. The ship and crew were greeted with a traditional welcome, which if I hadn't gotten a head's up earlier probably would have scared me, a little. In the challenge part of the welcome, island warriors wave long spears around and scream at you. The entire crew were led by the captain off the ship and the warriors continued screaming and waving the spears. The proper response to this challenge is to hold still and stare straight ahead without a reaction. After a few minutes of challenge, the warriors all walked to one side and the captain walked forward. We had passed the test. There was some press there and a group of men playing pan flute drums to greet us.

Gordon Darcey Lilo the Minister for Environment made a speech welcoming Greenpeace to the Solomons and recognized the work we have been doing in the Pacific Commons. And Joel (the Esperanza's Captain) also made a speech thanking the people of the Solomons for welcoming us.

Afterwards, all those that welcomed us came onboard for a press conference and a look around the ship. Photos from our work in the Pacific over the last few years hung in the helicopter hanger and people seemed to be really interested in them.

We're in Honiara for the rest of the week and there will be an official open boat on Saturday 10:00 to 5:00. If you are in the Solomons be sure to stop by and take a tour of the Esperanza!

Posted by jessmil on 04/20/2008 04:00 am

At 8:30 this morning, I stood on the deck of the Esperanza staring out at a ship in the distance. We had spotted a fishing vessel in international waters and had sent a team to see if they were actually fishing. As the information came in, we learned that it was a purse seiner from the U.S. and it just started to pull in the net. Purse seine vessels surround schools of fish with curtain-like nets to catch tuna. A rope along the bottom of the net is pulled like a drawstring and the whole catch is hauled onboard. A purse seine net can be over one hundred meters long and catch up to 3000 tons of fish in one trip.

We launched the boats immediately and set off towards the U.S. vessel, Cape Finisterre, to give them the same message we had given the Korean fishing vessel, Olympus just a few days earlier. It’s time for international commercial fishing vessels to stop overfishing the Pacific Commons. As we approached, I could see the net being pulled in and loaded on the deck of the ship, it looked massive.

Henry and I, both from activists from the U.S., deployed a banner demanding “Pacific Marine Reserves Now!” as Lagi, our oceans campaigner from Fiji delivered the message via radio to the U.S. purse seiner Captain. The Cape Finisterre continued to pull in their net and reload their skiff (a small boat used to set and retrieve the net when fishing with a purse seine) and seemed to go about their business. We learned over the radio that the vessel would not be leaving the Pacific Commons. Alain, our boat driver moved the boat closer to the Cape Finisterre and Henry and I painted the side of the vessel with the words “Tuna overkill.”

I looked at the hull of the Cape Finisterre with mixed emotions. I was embarrassed because every country that fishes in this region has the scientific data that shows that bigeye and yellowfin tuna are in trouble and they chose to ignore the warnings - including the U.S.. And I felt proud to be here with Greenpeace taking action against overfishing in the Pacific Commons. It’s time for the Cape Finisterre and other ships like it know that the world is watching. We will not let their destruction the tuna population of the Pacific Commons go unreported.

Posted by jessmil on 04/18/2008 11:55 pm

This morning I woke up still pretty sore from spending a whole day in the RHIBS on the open ocean Wednesday. I glanced over at the alarm clock and realized I had more than an hour before I had to get up for breakfast. I looked out the porthole of my cabin and I could see the sky starting to turn bright pink. I could tell it was going to be a beautiful sunrise. I decided to stay in bed a little longer and my mind drifted back to our day of action on the South Pacific.

I thought about how fast the Koren purse seiner was moving next to our boats (doing almost 13 knots), about the fishermen watching us from the deck, the salt water spray that was pelting me in the face but my mind kept flashing back to the flying fish that were escorting us to the Korean purse seiner.

We launched the boats from the Esperanza with almost a 30 minute ride ahead of us. About half way through, a flying fish shot out of the water, flew for what seemed like forever and then shot back into the water. A few seconds later, a few more flying fish came up for a flight and dove back into the ocean. This continued for a while with varying size to the groups that joined us on our trip to the fishing vessel.

It felt good to have a few of the locals accompany us that morning. Being in the middle of the ocean, you can go for hours and sometimes days without any visible sealife. That morning, the flying fish were a nice reminder that we aren't just fighting for the tuna. That we are fighting for the health of this ocean and all of the things that live in the delicate balance of these eco-systems.

Flying fish are found in all the major oceans, mainly in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Their pectoral fins are unusually large and what allows them to take flight above the water. The fish usually fly out of the water to escape from predators such as tunas, swordfish, mahi mahi and other larger fish.

 

Posted by jessmil on 04/17/2008 03:29 am

Today I witnessed the kind of fishing practices that are threatening to drive the tuna fisheries in the South Pacific to near collapse. In a time span shorter than a normal day at work, I witnessed both a purse seiner and a FAD (Fish Aggregation Device) both set in international waters, both by foreign vessels.

At 9am, a Korean purse seiner appeared a short distance from the Esperanza. After Tweety went up to confirm the location and nature of the fishing vessel, we launched two boats and headed to the Korean purse seiner. Our Korean translator contacted the fishing vessel and informed them they must immediately leave the area we are defending as a no-take marine reserve. While the conversation appeared to be very polite, the only change I noticed was the vessel speeding up and the crew seeming to be getting their fire hoses ready. As the crew from the Korean ship came out on deck, we deployed banners demanding an end to the overfishing of the Pacific Commons. As we arrived back at the ship, the crew told us they had spotted a FAD while the boats were out with the Korean purse seiner. The boats were sent out once again, this time with a dive team ready to document the FAD.

Following the documentation, the Esperanza confiscated the FAD by hauling it onboard. This was no small feat as the FAD was more than 80 meters long.

While we have no idea how many of these devices there are out here, tonight we can all go to bed knowing there will be one less.

The seven hours I spent in the hot equatorial sun of the South Pacific have left me exhausted, a little bruised and very determined. I am grateful to be here in the South Pacific as the Esperanza fights to defend the Pacific Commons from overfishing.

Posted by jessmil on 04/15/2008 11:47 pm

Big news here in the South Pacific today. The president of Palau announced the Fisheries Protection Act of 2008. With an acknowledgment that large scale fishing operations are responsible for the decline of the world’s fish stocks, especially tuna, President Remengesau has proposed a bill that would protect migratory fish in Palau’s waters. The proposed bill would prohibit the commercial export of fish like tuna, billfish, and sharks from Palau and would ban foreign fishing vessels from Palau waters.

“If these activities are allowed to continue unchecked, the world faces the collapse of the marine ecosystem that supports the planet. It is Palau’s obligation as an international leader in environmental conservation to take this step,” the president said.

Catching these fish and exporting them on a non-commercial basis would still be allowed. And foreign fishing companies that already hold permits would be allowed to continue to fish until their agreements expire in 2012. Afterwards, no foreign fishing vessels would be allowed to enter Palau’s waters to fish.

President Remengesau hopes the bill will help leave these fish for the Palauan people and possibly develop the sport-fishing industry of Palau. But this is not the first time Palau has been a champion for oceans. In 2006, Palau signed into law a ban on bottom trawling and called for a moratorium on bottom trawling for the Pacific at the opening session of the United Nations Working Group on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction.

While the president acknowledges that the government might lose money when it loses its revenue from commercial permits in the beginning of 2012, it seems he is hoping it can be made up in donations.He thinks that the money will be made up in donations by environmental organizations. The proposed piece of legislation even sets up a trust fund to accept these donations.

Posted by jessmil on 04/06/2008 11:13 pm

Actually published April 13, 2008

We have finally left the Lautoka Wharf. I've only been with the ship for a few days at dock but I think I'm so anxious to start sailing that it has felt much longer. We took a RHIB out to photograph the departure of the ship and I was able to be crew for the short trip. We were only on the water for about an hour but I was grateful to be able to watch the ESPY pull away from the dock. Sunday is supposed to be day off for the crew so most people will do their own thing today. My bag arrived 2 hours before we had to be on the ship for customs. I'm thinking it's about time for me to finally get settled in my cabin.

Posted by jessmil on 04/03/2008 11:07 pm

Actually published April 13, 2008

Last night was my first night onboard the Esperanza.  I arrived to the ship around 4 pm, it turned out they had actually pulled in earlier in the day and had been in Lautoka for a few hours already.  It was really nice to meet the people that I will be living and working with for the next month and to see a few familiar faces from time I have spent on the ships before.  After dinner, I tried to keep my eyeballs open for a few more hours in an attempt to get over my jet lag.

This morning, I woke up, went out onto the deck for a bit and read. As ports go, Lautoka is beautiful and it was a really nice place to start my day. After breakfast, everyone that was just joining the ship met up for introductions and then we got a tour of the ESPY. The ship seems so big and kind like a maze to me at this point.

I've spent the last few hours on the phone trying to track down my luggage. The ship is set to depart on Saturday and I'm really hoping that I'm able to get my bag by then. Otherwise, I might have to spend some time tomorrow exploring my options for clothing in Nadi.

Posted by jessmil on 04/02/2008 10:44 pm

Actually published April 13, 2008 

I finally arrived in Fiji this morning! My flight was delayed a bit and wouldn't you know it, despite a 4 hour layover in LA my bag didn't make it onto the plane to Nadi. That aside, I was very happy to land here in Fiji and even happier to have one of my colleagues here in Fiji at the airport to pick me up. The Esperanza is set to pull into Lautoka this afternoon and I'm very excited to see her. I've spent a little time on the Arctic Sunrise but this will be my first time setting eyes on the Esperanza. I've been dreaming about her for weeks.

After a short drive to Lautoka, I was dropped me off at the hotel so that I could make an attempt at getting rid of my jet lag before the rest of the crew showed up. I had a small breakfast at the little restaurant they have at the hotel and then went back to room for some much-needed shuteye. I woke up a few hours later and decided to head into town. I was looking to see if I could exchange some money and maybe buy something a little lighter than a black dress to wear until my luggage arrives.The town of Lautoka is a busy town with plenty of places to shop, tourist centers, jewelry stores and restaurants. The people are incredibly friendly and it's not unusual for visitors to be greeted with a “Bula” as they pass on the street.

I'll be joining the Esperanza for the next few weeks. This is my first time onboard one of our ships for more than a week or so and I just can't wait. I can remember being in High School and my sister and I sitting on our beds thinking of ways we could convince Greenpeace to let us on one of their zodiacs.Fifteen years later, here I am about to join one of our ships. I can’t find the right words to describe exactly how I'm feeling but I promise to my best to describe it over the next few weeks.

Posted by jhocevar on 03/08/2008 1:09 pm

Remember Omega Protein, the Houston-based company that has been turning millions of pounds of Chesapeake Bay fish into cat food, fertilizer, and chicken feed?  Omega targets menhaden, which has been dubbed "the most important fish in the world" for it's role as food for everything from whales to striped bass as well as it's value as a dead zone-fighting filter feeder.  Well, it's not just a Chesapeake problem, or even just an Atlantic one - Omega takes as much or even more menhaden out of the Gulf of Mexico.  Fishermen and environmentalists have been raising concerns about Omega's operations in the Gulf for a long time, especially about the enormous amount of bycatch they take.  Along with all those menhaden, the fleet vacuums up highly desirable sportfish like red drum and snapper and even some sharks.

Fortunately, the great state of Texas is responding to concerns and taking some important baby steps towards holding Omega accountable.  Measures are under consideration which could cap the amount of menhaden the company could take from Texas waters, and force Omega to allow independent fisheries observers on their boats.  If you ask me, Texas should just kick Omega out completely, but... this is still a good move in the right direction.

 

Together with Aaron from Gulf Restoration Network, Tom Wheatley from Marine Fish Conservation Network, and Jim Smarr from the Recreational Fishermen's Alliance, I met with Robin Riechers, the Science and Policy Director of TX Parks and Wildlife's Coastal Fisheries Division.  He's also the point person for TX on the Gulf Regional Fishery Mgt Council. 

Robin seemed impressed to see enviros working alongside sportfishing groups, but couldn't promise us much.  The state is waiting to hear from more people on this before they take action.  We know they're hearing from Omega, which is calling out all the stops trying to prevent any regulation of their fishery (as usual).  If you live in Texas, drop them a line and let them know you agree that the fishery needs a hard catch limit, with observers on board.  And while they're at it, they should ban spotter planes too - fishing with airplanes?  Come on! 

Thanks for reading -

John H

 

 

Posted by michellefrey on 02/27/2008 08:56 am

On the last day of the Boston Seafood Show our school of fish gave out awards to those dealers with the most unsustainable fishery practices. After being at the show for three days, it was pretty clear who the worst ocean offenders were.

Our school of fish went up to each of the winner’s booths and congratulated them on their award and slapped the award up on their booth. “I’m a dying species,” said the bluefin tuna, “I give you this award on behalf of my fellow fish and ask you to improve your practices so my family will be saved.”

Many of the winners were really happy at first when they received their award. They smiled and thanked us. But, their faces quickly turned grim when they actually read the award and the offenses they were being charged with.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” said the orange roughy. “You better get a good look at us, take a picture even, because we won’t be around much longer.”

 
It was clear that we had gotten our message across. People took pictures and gathered around the booths while the awards were given out. Our activity is sure to have a ripple effect as the unsustainable seafood awards story makes its way around the offices of the seafood dealers and sellers.

Other than smelling like a giant fish stick by the end of three days at the Boston Seafood Show, I also took away some interesting information. We talked to many, many people from all corners of the seafood business. And, most, if not all of them agreed that sustainable seafood practices were absolutely the way to go. But, they insisted they were sustainable, themselves. They were quick to point the finger at other dealers and sellers and tell us how “green” they were.

But, that logic just didn’t make sense. The first step in a recovery process is to admit the problem at hand. We haven’t quite gotten there with the seafood sellers, but at least we started a dialog with them. And, now they know that Greenpeace (and it’s awesome supporters) are keeping an eye on them – holding them accountable to be better stewards for the ocean environment.

Ocean protection starts with all of us. We need to succeed because our oceans are in serious trouble and need our help to survive.

--Michelle

 

Posted by michellefrey on 02/26/2008 2:48 pm

 

Yesterday, we pulled out the karaoke machine and our endangered fish sang their hearts out! They were singing to save their species from destructive fishing, tuning in to the seafood buyers and sellers as they walked by the Greenpeace booth.

As you can see from the photo, this orange roughy is giving the song all she’s got. As she tailored the words to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” to “Fish Just Wanna Stay Alive” visitors to our booth got the message loud and clear.

These fish also have a message for you… You can help too. Greenpeace needs to find out what seafood is being sold in your grocery stores. Are they selling fish from the Greenpeace Red List? Do they have a sustainable seafood policy? We need you to be our eyes and ears in you community.

I took the survey to my grocery store a couple of weeks ago and it was really easy. I just printed out the survey that we have posted online. I walked up to the seafood counter with my survey and my trusty pen. Then, I scanned the fish in the glass display, referencing the fish on my survey. If I saw a fish on the survey that was also in my store, I knew I had just obtained information that could help Greenpeace with their seafood campaign.

I even put the call out to my friends and family to help. My mom goes to the grocery store a couple times a week. So, she was excited to help out. She said she was nervous that someone was going to ask her what she was doing checking out their seafood, but no one actually did. She was a super sleuth and you can be a super sleuth too.

It really takes about 10-20 minutes to scan your seafood counter and frozen fish cases.

Our singing fishes will croon for you – if you can spare the time to help out!

 

Posted by michellefrey on 02/25/2008 11:45 am

 

 

On the second day of the Boston Seafood Show I decided to walk around to the other booths to see what was on display. To my surprise, one dealer had a banner advertising shark fin! I also found many examples of other fish from the Greenpeace red list including orange roughy, monkfish and swordfish.

So far, the people here have been very friendly to us. Our ocean campaigners are talking with them and seeing some common ground. The seafood sellers and dealers recognize the need for healthy oceans and sustainable practices. For the most part, they don’t disagree with us there. Where our campaigners are seeing a divide is on the way to get from how they are doing business now to how to get to a more sustainable business. We are trying to talk to them to bridge that gap. We are continuing to get our perspective out there and continue to push for more sustainable fisheries.

People are also really enjoying our fish costumes. Many have stopped by to ask if they can try it on and have their picture taken – glady!

Later on this afternoon our booth will be filled with a school of singing fish! That’s right, our fish are feeling musically inclined. They will belt out tunes on the Greenpeace karaoke machine, tailoring the words slightly to hit our target audience.

Stay tuned for pictures of the singing fish – you won’t want to miss that.

--Michelle

Posted by michellefrey on 02/24/2008 12:40 pm

 

If you’re wondering where all the fish have gone – I think I might have found them here in Boston at the International Seafood Show. The convention center is filled with thousands of people and even more fish on display. As I sit here at Greenpeace’s booth at the show, I notice the people in the booth next to me are selling some sort of device that makes ice to help cool seafood once it’s caught from the ocean.

Everyone here is trying to sell something – whether it’s fish from their company or devices that will help chill, store or catch seafood. And, Greenpeace is here in the mix trying to get all these seafood buyers and sellers to really think about the big picture – saving the oceans they are profiting from pillaging.

While the sellers are trying to maximize their profits, Greenpeace is trying to educate them about the declining health of the ocean and how they play a big role in helping to turn the tide. We are encouraging them to stay away from Red List species and to adopt sustainable seafood practices in all their company operations.

What better way to get the attention of fish-heads, than to have some life-sized fish walking around and greeting them when they arrived at the seafood show? Our friendly fish handed out Greenpeace flyers and invited each person to come stop by our booth to chat with us more about sustainable seafood and how they can help protect the oceans by “greening-up” their seafood processes.

Will they be up for the challenge? We’ve got three days to find out… Stay tuned.

 

 

Posted by jhocevar on 01/27/2008 01:19 am

I was in Anchorage last week for the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, presenting some of the findings from our 2007 Bering Sea Canyons Expedition.  I was presenting a poster, which is a common way to feature preliminary findings at scientific conferences, showcasing new coral data. Bob Stone, the NOAA ecologist who was on board the Esperanza with us, was the other author. 

I like poster presentations because you get a chance to interact with a large number of people, as opposed to oral presentations, where aside from a few questions it's largely a one-way lecture.  This way, I got to see people do a double take when they saw the paired NOAA and Greenpeace logos on the poster.  For those that read the conclusion, they saw that we - that's Greenpeace and NOAA - "recommend that canyon coral habitats be prioritized for protection and that additional research is undertaken to fully document the sensitive habitats in the region." 

Our findings also included several coral species that were previously unrecorded in the Bering Sea, as well as others that had never been found so far north.  Five corals were described as "common" or "abundant in one or both of the canyons we visited.  In all, we found at least fourteen species.   

Michelle Ridgway teamed up with legendary geologist David Scholl for a keynote presentation linking the physical structure of the canyons with the ecology of these highly productive features. Of the more than 600 scientists, policy makers, and industry lobbyists who attended the Symposium, I think it's safe to say that nearly all of them have a better understanding of the importance of the canyons than they did a week ago.

Meanwhile, the canyons will continue to face heavy fishing pressure until policy makers act to  protect these vulnerable habitats.  How much more damage will be done in the meantime?

John H
  

Posted by seamonkey on 01/13/2008 11:31 pm

WE GOT'EM!  After two and a half months and over seven thousand miles of sailing, we have found the whaling fleet.  Where did we find them?  In the international whale sanctuary.  What were they doing?  Killing whales.

After going the gauntlet of the roaring forties and furious fifties we finally reached the ice fields of Antarctica.  We began our search of an area that covers more than one million square miles and within just ten days we had located the poachers, without the helicopter mind you, and it was not easy.  With all hands on deck, we busted through sheets of ice so thick they made the entire ship shudder.

The arctic winds were relentless as they buried the ship in snow and ice on the daily.  In every window and port hole you could find someone with a pair of binoculars scanning the horizon. During a crew briefing, Capt. Frank put a hefty bounty out for the first person to spot the fleet, 

This ESPY is equipped with radar of course, but in ice fields where icebergs the size of cities are in perpetual motion, and pack ice oozes like a lava lamp, a radar screen looks more like a kaleidescope than anything. A cup of coffee and a pair of binoculars proved just as effective as any of our high tech tools. Plus, in looking for the whalers you would almost certainly find a whale or twelve. I actually got to kiss a humpback whale in the wild last Monday.

You have to watch this video;  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0gwI_BI29c

It was around midnight when there came a knock on my cabin door followed by a whisper that said, "There is something on the radar, we think it is the fleet, you and your bear should come to the bridge and check it out."  We did and sure enough, there was a ship coming through on the radar and it was only two miles off the bow. However, the visibility was horrible and a dense snow storm prevented us from seeing more than a hundred yards in any direction.  Then almost instantly the red curtain was drawn to reveal a Japanese whaling ship, and the show began. By the time we could establish a visual, we were so close I could see into the bridge of the whaling ship with binoculars. We quickly identified her as one of two spotting ships. Bitter sweet was this discovery. It was great that we found the fleet but this was the worst ship for us to find. The spotter ships travel well ahead of the rest of the fleet to scout clear passages through the ice and to plot the most direct routes to pods of whales. As long as we could see them, they could see us, and as long as they knew where we were, they would make certain the rest of the fleet would steer a course that we would not intercept. So we "Kicked the tires and lit the fires!" We fired up the two main engines and high tailed it in the exact opposite direction of the one we had been traveling. We ran fast and we ran far, so far, many times I wondered if we could find our way back. After they had finally fallen off our radar screen and hopefully us off their's, we stopped.  We pulled the best u-turn ever and doubled back on a course that we hoped would bring us right behind the rest of the fleet.  A complete game of ocean chess. I felt like Sean Connery was going to walk into the bridge any second and start screaming orders like, "right full rudder, steer course two seven zero, flood the tubes, man your battle stations", but of course he did not.  I did watch Hunt for Red October that night though So, for two days we back tracked. We had fled on our two main engines but were now running on our electric efficiency engine so covering the same distance took twice as long. Lots of time for chewing on finger nails and pacing around in small circles. Then again, I was awoke by a knock on my cabin door, this time it was more like pounding than a knock and it was no gentle whisper, only frantic screaming. "We got them! We got them!" When I got to the bridge I found almost the entire crew crowded around the radar. The captain had already identified three ships in close proximity and it didn't appear as if any of them had noticed us. Then at 0230 we all stood in awe, drowning in elation and adrenaline, as one by one, the ships of the fleet rudely awoke to find they had company. It was like a barking dog had disturbed the neighborhood as each ship turned on their lights to see what the commotion was. I would have given anything to be onboard as the loud speakers ordered the Japanese sailors out of their bunks and to their positions, the gig is up. 

Then came a futile attempt at the trickery they are so infamous for.  The fleet scattered in all directions at full speed, but in doing so they allowed us to locate our target, the Nissa Maru (a.k.a. mother ship, factory ship, death star.)  Over the past eight expeditions, the Capt. had determined each ships range and speed capabilities.  So, when the ships fled the scene he was able to deduce by their speed which vessel was which.  We set a course to intercept the factory ship and put the petal to the metal.  In an attempt to create a diversion, one of the hunting ships turned and headed straight at us.  This is the same tactic they used two months ago as they were leaving Japan.  They thought we would take the bait and follow them while the Nissa Maru escaped.  Wrong!  In moments we were passing port to port with the decoy.  This was the sweetest moment for me of the entire trip thus far.  I stood on the bridge wing and with the biggest smile you could imagine I casually waved to the whalers, thinking to myself, "GOTCHA SUCKERS, GAME ON!!!"  As soon as they realized we weren't falling for it, they turned and took up a position just off our stern.  But their bag of tricks was not empty just yet.  Another hunting ship came along side the Nissa Maru so close that their radar trails merged as one making them appear to be only one ship on the screen.  Then at the last second they spit in opposite directions forcing us to choose one.  This is exactly what they pulled when sneaking out of port in Japan, and the Capt. laughed as said, "That won't work twice gentlemen." 

The Esperanza's top speed is just slightly more than that of the Nisshan Maru, so it took several hours for us to close the gap between us.  It was about six a.m. when she came into sight on the horizon and we could confirm that she was indeed the ship we had traveled so far to find.  There was cheering and I think I even caught a high five or two, but the celebration was short lived as it was now time to get down to business.

That was three days ago. Since then, we have been chasing the Nissa Maru at top speed. A caravan of the Nissa Maru followed by the Esperanza followed by the hunting ship.

The so called research vessel is fleeing the scene of the crime as fast as it can.  The whaling fleet is burning hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel daily at the expense of the Japanese tax payers in order to not be exposed for commercial whaling yet again.  The bottom line is very simple and it is this, they are on the run, and as long as they are running they are not whaling.  For the last three days, zero whales have been murdered in the Southern Ocean International Whale Sanctuary. No whales were harpooned and I did not have to get hosed with icy sea water or drive an inflatable in front of a gun.  My focus now turns to my job in the engine room.  The Espy is running flat out and she is gulping down the fuel as well.  Lots of moving parts and right now they are moving real fast.

Since I began writing this a few minutes ago, the hunter ship on our tail has stopped and turned around in the direction we were steaming. Now it is just us and the "research ship" full of already packaged whale meat fresh out of the sanctuary.  It is clear by the way, that she sits in the water that the holds are flooded with dead whales. We are not sure what they are up to, but it is certainly no good.  In the meantime, they are putting more and more distance between themselves and the rest of the fleet. The hunting ships cannot hunt without the factory ship. Every hour they are apart is another hour no whales are dying. I have no doubt that they will indeed resume their hunting and when they do we will be there and we will use non-violent direct action to stop them. But for the time being, we have managed to run them completely out of the whale sanctuary.  This is more than we could have ever hoped for.

It is in many ways a surreal feeling to be in world’s slowest high-speed-chase. Two huge ships running full bore through fields of icebergs. But the best part of all, is that I just watched three whales surface right off the bow of the ship sent to kill them.  That ship had to sail right past them and those whales lived to tell all their friends about it.  They are on the run, but for how long? It is off to a good start but it is far from over. 

p.s.  every high speed chase needs spectators, here are a few of the locals cheering us on as they make sure they are well out of the way.

peace, heath

Posted by pribilof on 01/03/2008 3:24 pm

As we look to our trusty dictionary put together in Webster’s name, Third College Edition, to find the word “confidence” we find a part of the definition: belief in ones own abilities; the fact of being or feeling certain. Very cool words. Words that as young people we have been taught to believe in, to accept and to cherish because they, the meanings of these words, will carry us a long way to success in our lives.

In Alaska today, as in many other places throughout our shrinking planet, we are experiencing something so ominous that never before in the history of humanity we have ever experienced anything like it. We debate; question; lay out facts; make movies; win Nobel Peace Prizes, and yes, write opinions about global warming, or climate change as some choose to call it. Global warming. Interesting group of words. As in the globe is warming. The Earth is warming. Very interesting choice of words. And the facts are indisputable. It is happening.

Now, I can list the many examples and scientific facts of how we know for certain that global warming is happening, tell you who is saying what, where, and why. I can use the models that say this part of the globe is warming a degree here, a degree there. We can assemble a whole bunch of lists of examples of weather changes all examples of how temperature changes impact our weather, and ultimately our people, humanity. But, you can read that elsewhere. This is not one of those articles. This is a simple paper, thoughts, words about what I see and how I understand what is happening to my people here in Alaska, the Last Frontier.   

We, Alaska’s Native Peoples, indigenous peoples, have a long and proud history in our home. We settled here, in a place some call a frozen wasteland, birthplace of the winds, to raise families, develop cultures and a lifestyle from a rich but often unforgiving environment. And today, we take much pride, a healthy pride in what we have accomplished. We still speak a language handed down to us over hundreds and thousands of years. We still-hunt and gather our foods, as did our ancestors. We still call this place our home. We are still here. Now, as never before, we wonder in our homes, beside our wood fires, gathered around our dinner places, speaking to our children, wondering how much longer we are going to be here. Where are we going to be? In our villages or moving to the larger and more unforgiving cities, places where crime is rampant and food is scarce. Food, that is, that we know and have confidence in that is healthy for our diets. We just don’t know.

Local and national newspapers are filling with news about the plight of our home. Erosion from ocean storms is cutting into the security, the places on land where we live and have lived. Land is washing away, giving way to angry water. Winter is settling in, in ways never before experienced. And we are hunting for foods growing more and more scarce. Our animals, once respectful of our ways, are moving away and not coming back to offer themselves to us. They don’t respect us any longer. And we grow hungry. And we only drive motor bikes, bikes that leave such a small footprint of carbon that it is not we who have brought this plight, but someone else, someone far from our shores. But we are suffering. And the animals don’t respect us any longer.

We at Greenpeace have gone, on two consecutive seasons, to the Bering Sea to bear witness, to learn first hand the plight of our people. We have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles in our boats; a leased MV Pacific Storm and our own MY Esperanza to seek insights from our people about what is happening and how we can help to make a change. We came to the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska to find answers, only to find more questions. We listened, interviewed, filmed, talked, and planned. We are here. And we are still seeking answers.

Food is becoming scarce. Not only is the food we depend upon harder and more difficult to capture, but the food we use as economy to buy food from our shrinking shops, imported to supplement our diets. Fuel to drive our motor bikes, power our skiffs our boats, is expensive, in some places a gallon well over seven dollars. Oil to heat our homes comes from Venezuela, a foreign government. And we are here.

From our works, our interviews, our films, and our talks, we think we might have found a way to help insure longevity for our people in our villages, for all of us actually. To ensure food, health and a return to a vibrant culture, perhaps we can etch out zones in the water, in the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, where we can begin to rebuild a home for our animals and plants. We call these zones, cultural heritage zones to emphasize the best of what we are. (I speak of “we” in both the sense of being Alaska Native and a member of humanity) Zones in the water protected from the destructive practices of the way western man harvests fish and now think is normal.  Ways that destroy, perhaps forever, in one’s lifetime, that is forever, habitat critical to the needs of our foods and our homes. Ways that, unless we put a stop to their insidious creeping crawling scraping of the oceans floors, are insuring our end to survival as Alaska’s first peoples, not to mention the creation of another George’s Banks. Large commercialized factories on the water called trawlers are doing this and the animals are blaming us. They don’t know we respect them. They, our foods think, it is we, collectively, destroying their homes, and perhaps they are right. For if we do not speak up to put an end to this practice of sweeping up the floors of our waters, yes, it is a collective destructive force no matter who is doing it. Cultural heritage zones! What an idea. What an answer to our needs, to our questions. Protective areas where we can ensure the health of our foods, where they, our foods can regain their respect for us, where once again, we can have confidence in who we are and what we do.

The water changes color, temperature and viscosity. We wonder about its health, leading to our way of life. The globe, the Earth, the planet is warming and our hearts have become colder, facing questions too difficult to answer. But, we are here, working and seeking. Join us in our quest to regain confidence, to regain the trust of our foods, our animals and plants. Join us as we move to continue our cultural heritage place on this planet we call Mother Earth.