Pirates' illegal methods net them big money,...
Transcript of Pirates' illegal methods net them big money,...
Pirates' illegal methods net thembig money, threaten Arctic fishsurvival
Thai customs officials near Phuket, Thailand, investigate illegal fishing. Photo: Jonathan Kaiman/Los
Angeles Times/TNS
PHUKET, Thailand — Four Thai customs agents in a gray speedboat slowly
circle a rusty fishing vessel a mile off the coast of Phuket. The government has
forbidden the 625-ton boat to set sail, but it has also ordered the agents not to
go onboard. So they continue to circle — and stare.
The Kunlun is suspected of holding some $5 million worth of “Chilean sea bass”
that was caught using unauthorized practices. The fish are neither bass nor
necessarily from Chile. Like other popular species, Chilean sea bass have
become very valuable, putting them at risk of overfishing.
In the past, overfishing has threatened the existence of entire species.
Fishermen used massive drift nets that snagged everything in their paths. Since
then, international organizations have fought for regulations that help control the
use of such devastating practices.
By Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.27.15
Word Count 915
But in many parts of the world, pirates continue to operate. In rarely patrolled
stretches of the remotest ocean, they catch protected fish with banned
equipment. Their run-down vessels fly a shifting assortment of national flags.
Environmentalists, Officials Join Forces To Lower Boom OnPirates
Environmental organizations and law enforcement authorities work together to
corner the pirates. The process often becomes a high-stakes cat-and-mouse
game.
Before its arrival in Thailand, the Kunlun had led pursuers on a six-day, 900-mile
chase. On Feb 26, customs officials boarded the ship in Australia’s Cocos
Islands. They found a large load of frozen fish, but left without filing any charges
or complaints.
Australian official Richard Colbeck explained the situation to the local news
media. Colbeck said that Australia did not have the authority to arrest the
Kunlun's captain and crew because they were in international waters.
Before that adventure, the Kunlun had been spotted on a remote stretch of the
Antarctic Ocean. It was in a region called the Shadowlands, about 2,400 miles
southwest of Australia. Many fishermen consider those choppy, iceberg-filled
international waters too dangerous to travel. But this area is full of Arctic
toothfish, one of two species marketed under the more appealing name of
Chilean sea bass.
International Agency Monitors Ships, Sets Fishing Limits
Fishing in the Antarctic Ocean is regulated by the Convention on the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). The organization
is based in Australia, but it is made up of representatives from 24 nations and
the European Union.
The CCAMLR licenses vessels, tracks their movements and sets limits on how
many fish can be caught. “Illegal, unreported and unregulated” ships are a
constant source of headaches for the CCAMLR. These boats fish with banned
nets and fly flags of non-CCAMLR nations to dodge regulators. Some estimates
say they cause global losses of up to $23 billion a year.
The market for Chilean sea bass boomed in the 1990s, causing a rush to catch
toothfish. By 2000, the U.S. government reported that two-thirds of the Chilean
sea bass on the market at that time had been caught illegally. Toothfish numbers
had also dropped dangerously low.
Since then, CCAMLR has tightened regulations, reducing the number of illegal
fishing vessels in its area. Toothfish populations have also been stabilized. Still,
the organization says some boats continue to operate with illegal nets and false
flags.
A Ship With Changing Names, Fishy Origins
When the Kunlun entered Thailand’s waters on March 6, local authorities did not
notice anything out of the ordinary.
The captain told authorities that his ship was from Indonesia and that it was
called the Taishan, the name painted on its hull. He also said it carried 182 tons
of frozen black grouper that he had purchased from a smaller boat at sea.
Customs let the Kunlun drop anchor. Trucks hauled its cargo to the Songkhla
deep-water port, a busy spot on the Thailand-Vietnam border.
The next day, Phuket Marine Police official Panya Chaichana received a notice
from Interpol, an police group made up of officers from a number of countries.
Interpol asked Chaichana for information about the "illegal actions of the vessel
Kunlun.” It said the ship had been fishing with banned nets in a protected area.
The Kunlun's owners were also accused of changing the ship's “name, national
registration (‘flag’) and other identifying characteristics.”
According to Interpol, the 42-year-old Kunlun had also been called many other
names, including the Chang Bai, the Hongshui, the Corvus, the Galaxy, the Red
Moon and the Dorita. The ship had flown the flags of Equatorial Guinea,
Indonesia, Tanzania, South Korea, Panama and Sierra Leone. It had been
registered to at least five different companies.
Skirting The Full Consequences Of Piracy
Chaichana found no illegal fishing gear when he boarded the boat. Songkhla
port authorities could not determine the cargo’s origins or how it was caught.
“If Thailand follows its own laws, the only crime which ... (the Kunlun) committed
was mislabeling the seafood,” said Michael Gravitz of the Marine Conservation
Institute in Washington. “For that, they could get slapped with a $3,000 fine. But
that’s for a $5 million cargo. And this boat has been on the international list of
pirate fishing boats for a long time.”
Authorities at Songkhla said they planned to return the fish after the ship’s owner
paid about $160,000 in storage fees. It will probably turn up on restaurant
menus soon.
Pramok Urawan, a spokesman from the ship's agency, said the captain and
crew have since been replaced by three Spanish men, all of whom remain
aboard the vessel. He said the ship plans to sail to Indonesia.
Quiz
1 Read the four statements below. Which two statements describe MAIN ideas from
the article?
1. The pirates will probably make $5 million off of the fish,
so the fine makes little difference.2. Chilean sea bass, like some other species of fish, are
very valuable and are overfished.3. The Australian government was unable to arrest those
aboard the Kunlun because of international waters laws.4. Many organizations work together to try to stop the
pirates' illegal activity and protect ocean life.
(A) 1 and 4
(B) 2 and 1
(C) 2 and 3
(D) 2 and 4
2 Which sentence from the article would be MOST important to include in a summary
of it?
(A) Four Thai customs agents in a gray speedboat slowly circle a rusty
fishing vessel a mile off the coast of Phuket.
(B) Environmental organizations and law enforcement authorities work
together to corner the pirates.
(C) By 2000, the U.S. government reported that two-thirds of the
Chilean sea bass on the market at that time had been caught
illegally.
(D) Pramok Urawan, a spokesman from the ship's agency, said the
captain and crew have since been replaced by three Spanish men,
all of whom remain aboard the vessel.
3 What does the section "Environmentalists, Officials Join Forces To Lower Boom On
Pirates" contribute to the article?
(A) It gives details about how the pirates are able to capture Chilean
sea bass.
(B) It details the problems with tracking down the pirates successfully.
(C) It explains what happens to the pirates after they are caught with
an illegal load of fish.
(D) It describes the regulations surrounding overfished species.
4 What is the relationship between the introduction [paragraphs 1-4] and the final
section of the article?
(A) The introduction presents a problem, and the final section gives
several potential solutions to the problem.
(B) The introduction presents a problem, and the final section explains
how the problem is difficult to solve.
(C) The introduction describes an important event, and the final section
describes why the event occurred.
(D) The introduction describes an important event, and the final section
makes a prediction about a future event.