At Sea, Tropical South Atlantic
Today we continue north toward Ascension Island. The water here at the northern edge of the South Atlantic Gyre is very deep blue—the bluest water on the planet is in these areas far from land and far from centers of biological productivity. In the mid-afternoon we crossed the 200 nautical mile limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Ascension Island. About this time we picked up a target on the radar and as we continued northwest we recognized a long-line fishing vessel on the horizon. The ship was about 40 nautical miles inside the EEZ and lay almost directly on our cruise track. As we approached the ship and were able to get better looks, it was clear that the ship was actively fishing. A heavy line streamed to starboard from the well deck forward of the house and a number of fishermen were working the line.
On the afterdeck were hundreds of shark fins and tails drying in the sun. The ship turned out to be Taiwanese, sailing from Kaohsiung. The crew waved to us as we passed but were probably less than pleased to see us. We recorded all the particulars available from our observation for report to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office via the conservation officer on Ascension. The ship did not appear on the Automated Identification System on the bridge.
The British government has no fisheries patrol enforcement vessel at Ascension Island as they do at South Georgia and the Falklands, so it may be difficult for them to do more than officially protest the encroachment. The fine is £500,000. This sort of violation of the EEZ is a worldwide problem for nations trying to manage their living resources. In addition, shark fin fishing, using the technique called “finning” where the fins are cut off the live shark and the animal is then dumped back in the ocean to die is generally considered an unacceptable fishing method.
Out here in the vast open ocean, an encounter like this one brings home to us a number of lessons about the magnitude of the challenge which we all face in trying to manage global ocean resources. It may seem relatively easy close to population centers and close to shore, but we see very clearly on a voyage such as this one, just how big the ocean really is-and this is only the second largest ocean!
Today we continue north toward Ascension Island. The water here at the northern edge of the South Atlantic Gyre is very deep blue—the bluest water on the planet is in these areas far from land and far from centers of biological productivity. In the mid-afternoon we crossed the 200 nautical mile limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Ascension Island. About this time we picked up a target on the radar and as we continued northwest we recognized a long-line fishing vessel on the horizon. The ship was about 40 nautical miles inside the EEZ and lay almost directly on our cruise track. As we approached the ship and were able to get better looks, it was clear that the ship was actively fishing. A heavy line streamed to starboard from the well deck forward of the house and a number of fishermen were working the line.
On the afterdeck were hundreds of shark fins and tails drying in the sun. The ship turned out to be Taiwanese, sailing from Kaohsiung. The crew waved to us as we passed but were probably less than pleased to see us. We recorded all the particulars available from our observation for report to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office via the conservation officer on Ascension. The ship did not appear on the Automated Identification System on the bridge.
The British government has no fisheries patrol enforcement vessel at Ascension Island as they do at South Georgia and the Falklands, so it may be difficult for them to do more than officially protest the encroachment. The fine is £500,000. This sort of violation of the EEZ is a worldwide problem for nations trying to manage their living resources. In addition, shark fin fishing, using the technique called “finning” where the fins are cut off the live shark and the animal is then dumped back in the ocean to die is generally considered an unacceptable fishing method.
Out here in the vast open ocean, an encounter like this one brings home to us a number of lessons about the magnitude of the challenge which we all face in trying to manage global ocean resources. It may seem relatively easy close to population centers and close to shore, but we see very clearly on a voyage such as this one, just how big the ocean really is-and this is only the second largest ocean!
