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afrol News, 28 October - Vessels from the Seychelles are among the major participants in the illegal toothfish fisheries in southern seas, environmental groups denounce. More than half of the costly toothfish are illegally caught. According to a release by Greenpeace, the governments of Uruguay, Russia, Korea and Seychelles were "the ultimate accomplices" of fish pirates from these countries. Vessels carrying these countries' flags were "right now" fishing illegally within protected sub-Antarctic waters "and are then laundering their catch" by lying about where they caught their fish. By authorising catches for these vessels, these countries were "undermining" environmental management and "supporting pirate fishing," Greenpeace says. Toothfish can live to be 50 years old, but their chances of reaching this ripe old age are growing slimmer, according to the environmental group. Once their rather ferocious-looking heads are removed and their bodies cleaned and de-scaled, the moist, oily white flesh of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish becomes a delicacy that can fetch more than US$ 10 a kg among the trendy dining crowd. The group talked about "a goldrush" referring to the toothfish piracy. According to the Greenpeace statement, vessels from the Seychelles had stolen 7,433 tonnes in addition to their legal catches during the past two and a half years. This illegal catch, unloaded in Seychelles alone was worth an estimated US$ 72 million. The group especially noted that the Seychelles is an observer state to the CCAMLR, a regional body responsible for toothfish conservation in sub-Antarctic waters. Still, the Seychelles "lied about" where their fishing vessels had caught their toothfish. Much of the catch had indeed been illegally taken from South African territorial waters. Seychelles increasingly is criticised for letting dubious vessels register in the country, using a Seychellois flag of convenience. Many of those are later found involved in illegal fisheries. Equatorial Guinea is another African country named by Greenpeace as playing into the hands of fishery pirates. Over the last years, an increasing number of international vessels have started carrying the Equatoguinean flag of convenience.
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