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The South Seas

A Brief Report
Jon Sumby, Jan-Feb 1996
(Published in the Sea Shepherd Log 1st Quarter 1996, with photos)

South Pacific 
Australia is one part of an international trade in seahorses.
Dried and ground to powder, seashorses are a valuable part of the Asian
natural medicine and aphrodisiac trade. 
The trade in seahorses and seadragons for the international aquarium trade
is booming. Already some  Australian populations may be under threat, with
a leafy seadragon from Western Australia recently sold in Hong Kong for a
reported AUS$13,000. 

The Commonwealth Wildlife Protection Act, which controls trade in native
species, specifically exempts marine fish from protection. However in 1994
the Commonwealth tried to get all seahorse species protected, being opposed
by the State and Commonwealth fisheries ministers concerned that trade
might suffer if restrictions were put in place. This year the Australian
Nature Conservation Agency is reviewing the situation with the view to
placing seahorses and other syngnathids under the protection of the Act.

Seahorses and pipefish are also being taken in numbers from the Galapagos
Islands, sought by the same dealers buying seal penis to market as an
aphrodisiac

TING HONG EXPANDING IN SOUTH PACIFIC.
Ting Hong Oceanic, a Taiwanese fishing company is moving into longline
fishing with dozens of boats and its own portable processing factory.

The floating factory barge has its own power and only needs a  fresh water
hookup to operate. The factory is used to prepare tuna for the fresh
sashimi trade in Japan. The fish are cleaned, graded and packed to be
airfrieghted fresh to the market. Ting Hong has its own Boeing 727 to use
as fish transport, flying via Guam to Japan.

The barge is currently in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Ting Hong was the first
Taiwanese fishing operation to be granted a licence to fish waters around
the Solomon's, with a fleet of 100 fishing boats. However, the current
Governement in the Solomon's is concerned that the fleet is not an economic
benefit to the islands and that no jobs are provided for Islanders. 

Currently, no Ting Hong boat is fishing in the Solomon Islands as none has
passed ship survey requirements and it is possible that they will move on.

Ting Hong is possibly the single biggest fishing operation in the South
Pacific. Their presence worries locals as Ting Hong is only after the money
and work the cheapest operation possible. By contracting Chinese boats by
the hundred to do the fishing and having a portable factory, Ting Hong can
raid fishing areas and move on. Ting Hong has already moved through
Micoresia and the Marshall Islands and is now in the Solomon's With crews
said to only be getting paid AUS$30 a month, Ting Hong can apparently
operate at 50% of the breakeven value of local industry and still make a
profit. There have also been allegations of political interference bringing
concessions to the company that are of little benefit to the islands.

By avoiding state laws and agreements, profit is boosted and Ting Hong was
recently fined US$2.2 million by the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
Ting Hong was involved in transhipping catch at sea (so avoiding royalty
payments to the FSM) and not maintaining proper catch records. Other Ting
Hong boats were found guilty of illegally transhipping and fishing for reef
fish in at least 20 seperate incidents.  

Reef fish are a highly valued commodity and are fished by hand with hook
and line or cyanide, with disastrous results for the reefs ecology and
local livelihoods. The fish are then flown out live to markets in Hong Kong
and elsewhere.  

Industrial fishing operations such as Ting Hong, are considered by Pacific
national fisheries to be a threat to their livelihood and by government and
other groups to be poor value for local communities and for the future.
However, many of these island nations are not in an economic position to
refuse access and political interests can also play a role. These nations
also struggle to adequately police their fisheries. When the industry is
operating at the cheapest level the temptation to fish illegally is strong.
Monitoring bycatch rates and species composition as well as impact on the
target fish, is also a difficulty. Along with tuna, the South Pacific
nations could be losing more than they know.

Papua New Guinea has declared it will no longer licence domestic fishing
rights to foreign companies. 
Domestic fishing is fishing within 12 nautical miles of the coast. Local
industry is being encouraged with a Government commitment to invest up to
AUS$9 million this year in the industry. It is estimated that one local
boat brings in more export revenue than all the 129 foreign boat yearly
licence fees put together, as well as providing local jobs.

Southern Ocean 

ALBATROSS
The Australian Government has announced a major iniative to encourage
Albatross conservation. Over the next four years $AUS 1.13 million will be
used to develop a Recovery Plan for the Macquarie Island population of the
Wandering Albatross, declared endangered by the Australian Government last
year.
A "Threat Abatement Plan" designed to reduce albatross bycatch will also be
developed. These iniatives will only apply to longline boats operating in
Australian waters and does not apply to international fleets working beyond
the Australian 200 mile limit. 

The Environment Minister, Senator Faulkner, said that the Federal Labor
Government will "vigorously pursue the protection of albatrosses in all
relevant international fora including global environmental conventions".
Australia will be pressing for the nomination of all albatross species
under the Bonn Convention. Once listed, global protection measures must be
put in place.

Two of South Korea's largest distant-water fishing companies are reported
to be preparing to move into the southern bluefin tuna longline fishery.
Though not confirmed, such a move would raise the bycatch rate of albatross
and increase the rate of their decline.


SEA FISH EXTINCTION
The spotted handfish, an unusual marine fish that 'walks' along the seabed
on its fins is on the verge of extinction, according to Australian
fisheries scientists.  

The small fish with its distinctive yellow markings and fins was very
common in its particular habitat but now, within the last decade, it has
almost vanished . Only four sightings have been made in the last five
years. The spotted handfish is restricted to the Derwent estuary and a few
locations along the adjacent coastline.

Freshwater fish species have been destroyed completely and marine fish
populations have crashed due to human pressure but if the spotted handfish
goes it will be the first marine fish to be made extinct in human history.

The cause of the decline of the fish is thought to be the introduction of
the north Pacific seastar, brought over in the ballast of Japanese woodchip
ships or possibly US naval vessels. The handfish only lays and guards a few
large eggs in a seabed nest, but it has no defences against the predatory
seastar.

In Australia, the issue of dumping of ships ballast water is gaining
increasing attention, being described as a major threat to biodiversity and
the biggest problem after oil spills. The effects of species released by
the discharge of ballast water increase with time and are irreversible.
Introduced species can alter entire ecosystems and habitats, causing the
extinction of indigenous species. 

During 1992, at least 121 million tonnes of ballast water arrived in
Australia from 53 countries, with most of the water entering on bulk
carriers. 

Worldwide over 120 species of fish have been introduced to new habitats
along with many species of shellfish and seaweeds. Among these are the
American jacknife clam to Germany, the pacific oyster to the Meditteranean,
the Eurasian ruffe fish and the zebra mussel to the Great Lakes (US). The
introduction of the zebra clam to the Great Lakes ecosystem is estimated to
cost the United States and Canada about US$5 billion by the 2000.

In Australia, four species of fish have arrived, at least four species of
toxic algae and ten species of invertebrates, including the predatory
Northern Pacific Seastar, and one kelp species. 

Fish diseases are a concern as is the possibility of human disease such as
cholera, which has been detected in ballast water, but the testing of water
arriving in Australia has had no positive results so far.

Australia is the fifth biggest user of shipping in the world
and introduced species pose a real threat to domestic fisheries, public
health and native ecosystems. Sterilisation of ballast water is one option
and current research is looking into biocides, ozone, UV, heat treatment
and chemically removing oxygen from ballast water. 


NEW SUB-ANTARCTIC FISHERY
Last years exploratory fishing off the sub-antarctic Macquarie Island
yielded rich catches of Patagonian Toothfish, which is similar to cod and
can grow to two metres (six feet). As deep sea fisheries around Australia
decline, the industry is looking further afield and the catches around
Macquarie, with the frozen Toothfish selling for AUS$40 per kilogram on the
Japanese fish market, is creating intense interest.

Commercial fishing around Macquarie Island has begun, to the concern of
Australian Antarctic scientists. A permit has also been issued for an
exploratory fishing trip around Heard Island.

The ship concerned, the 85 metre Austral Leader, will head for Heard Island
early this year. It will fish just beyond the three mile limit, as it did
around Macquarie Island. If results are good it could lead to the
development of an Australian distant-water fleet. 

Heard and Macquarie Islands are being currently considered for World
Heritage listing because of the vibrant seal and seabird colonies both
islands support. To date there has never been any fisheries survey at
either island to gauge the vulnerability or sustainability of the
Patagonian Toothfish population.

A fishery around these islands could have major impacts on the populations
of seals and seabirds living there. The fishing operations will also be a
direct threat to seabirds who can get caught up in fishing gear. This is a
concern as the Australian Government has listed the Macquarie Island
subspecies of the wandering albatross as endangered, with only ten breeding
pairs to be found each year. 

During the first season of fishing, monitoring of the impact of the
trawlers operation on the albatross population found that they were
severely disrupted by the fishery. However, one trawler can bring in 350
tonnes of toothfish worth almost AUS$1.4 million, so permits will still be
issued under "strict conditions" according to the Australian Fisheries
Management Authority.


AUSTRALIA-JAPAN WHALE SURVEY
For the first time in years, Japanese whalers arrived in an Australian
port. The Shonan Maru and the Shonan Maru II were berthed in Hobart for a
week in January, before heading for the Ross Sea to survey Minke.

Earlier, the two ships had been out in the Great Australian Bight searching
for blue whales, under the control of Mr. John Bannister who is associated
with the University of Western Australia. The survey was part of work to
establish the abundance of "true" blue whales. The survey was conducted
under the banner of the IWC in support of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. 

Mr Bannister said that the research was an initial sighting survey to learn
how to identify the two blue whale types and to take biopsies for genetic
studies. Further research will concentrate on getting population estimates.
According to Mr. Bannister, there are thought to be less than a thousand
"true" blue whales, and about 6000 "pygmy" blue whales.

The "pygmy" blue was identified in 1960 by Tadayoshi Ichihara and is said
to be confined to waters around Kerguelen and Crozet Islands in the
southern Indian Ocean. In the three years immediately following the
discovery, the Japanese whaling industry killed 2,450 "pygmy" blue whales.
The pygmy blue whale, as Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda, is still not
fully accepted as a subspecies.

Field identification is then a problem as the "pygmy" blue is said to have
a shorter tail, be slightly heavier in the body and more silvery in colour
than the "true" blue. Blue whale colouration varies with age, and assesing
tail and body size ratios of a diving whale from the deck of a heaving
whaler may nothing more than hit or miss. 
 
The risk of such research is that it could give the Japanese whaling
industry two platforms to argue for increased kills.
One, that the blue is not a growing population and that the Minke is
outcompeting them for food and so needs to be "culled". The other is that
the "true" blue is at risk but that the "pygmy" is abundant enough to
sustain a catch quota.

However, Mr. Bannister dismisses these ideas for two reasons.
First, the "pygmy" blue is abundant only in relation to the "true" blue not
in terms of original populations. 
Secondly, he says the idea that Minke are taking over the blue whale niche
and outcompeting them for krill has little sway with ecologists. It is
considered unlikely as both Humpback and Southern Right whale populations
are increasing in the face of competition from Minke whales.