Going Gangnam, Greenpeace Style

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Michael Baillie

As Gangnam fever swept the globe, not even the Rainbow Warrior was able to escape the madness. So while sailing out in the Indian Ocean, working to document and expose unsustainable and illegal fishing practices, the crew decided to create a spoof version of the video.

We’d been sailing off the coast of Mozambique, helping fisheries inspectors monitor the country’s waters for illegal fishing. Having been out at sea for three weeks, it was a while before we found out about “gangnam style”. Eventually though, we heard how wildly popular it was on YouTube, and a Korean volunteer onboard to explained the lyrics to us.

We decided that making our own version would be a great way to reach new people and spread our oceans campaign message. Continue reading →

Time to strengthen fisheries enforcement to stop pirate fishing and end overfishing crisis

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Malo Herry

Originally posted to Greenpeace Africa.

The monitoring of tuna fisheries must be strengthened and transfers of fish at sea banned to end the overfishing crisis in the Indian Ocean, Greenpeace International said on Monday after it again found illegal fishing operations in the region.

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior recorded illegal fishing activities by two Sri Lankan tuna and shark boats in the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the adjacent high seas on Friday before arriving in Colombo, Sri Lanka over the weekend to end a two-month expedition in the Indian Ocean. Continue reading →

The fairest catch

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Andrea Rid

Today, I caught a tuna.

It was the first fish I had ever caught in my life. And the first tuna that had to die because of me for a long time.

I haven’t eaten tuna for about three years. Not because I don’t like the taste of it – I actually love it – but because tuna stocks throughout the world’s oceans are either overfished or being overfished.

Why? Because the majority of the world’s skipjack tuna is caught by purse seine fishing boats that use fish aggregating devices (FADs). Continue reading →

Who will join the fight against pirate fishing?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Andrea Rid

25 October 2012 Illegal Sri Lankan Fishing Boat. A Greenpeace inflatable pulls up along side an illegal Sri Lankan fishing boat, IMUL-A-0352KLT, 24th October 2012, Chagos, Indian Ocean. Greenpeace found two illegal Sri Lankan fishing boats inside the Chagos marine reserve on Wednesday and has called on the UK government to enforce protection of this Indian Ocean reserve from pirate fishing.

The clouds were heavy in the sky and the water rippled under the wind as the Rainbow Warrior entered on Wednesday the Chagos marine reserve, established by the UK government in 2010.

This area is a no-take marine reserve, one of the biggest in the world, so it was with great suspicion that we saw what appeared to be a boat looming on the horizon. We quickly grabbed the binoculars and watched that dark spot slowly come into view. Continue reading →

There’s no excuse; our oceans need action now

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Veronica Frank

For the past six weeks the crew on the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior have been observing and monitoring the Indian Ocean’s fisheries and its diverse sea life, encountering some of the best and worst of fisheries management.

Since setting sail from Durban in early September, they have performed two weeks of joint surveillance operations with the Mozambican Ministry of Fisheries to inspect foreign fishing vessels that mainly target high-value tuna and endangered sharks. Continue reading →

Life Loves Living

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Michael Baillie

Not a dolphin, but a pygmy blue whale that breaks the surface in the waters 250 miles west of Maputo, Mozambique.

Originally posted to Greenpeace UK.

You’ll see it best on the darkest nights. When the moon is empty and clouds cover the stars – that’s when the ocean and algae collude. Like the Arctic’s Northern Lights, this is one of those natural phenomena that leave you giddy, wide-eyed in wonder: Psychedelic dolphins. Continue reading →

Shark finning isn’t new: update from the Rainbow Warrior

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Michael Baillie

I saw six sharks being cut up for their fins a few days ago. And as monstrous as it was, I know it won’t make headlines, it isn’t news. Currently, the fins from an estimated 26 million to 73 million sharks are sold each year, that’s up to 8,000 sharks killed an hour.

And the market is booming.