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Canada Performs An Act Of Piracy On The High Seas

Question:

Piracy is private citizens stealing at sea. As I recall, the spanish boat wasn’t seized when it was doing 20 knots. It was seized after it stopped its engines, after the Canadian boat opened fire across the bow. Didn’t the Limeys and the Icelanders actually come to naval warfare over fishing some years ago?  How much shooting was done? Anyone get hurt?

Response:

Piracy is private citizens stealing at sea. As I recall, the spanish boat wasn’t seized when it was doing 20 knots. It was seized after it stopped its engines, after the Canadian boat opened fire across the bow. Didn’t the Limeys and the Icelanders actually come to naval warfare over fishing some years ago?  How much shooting was done? Anyone get hurt?

Known as the Cod War, in good old Blighty. And much firing across the bow and cutting of nets was done, I seem to remember. Anyone in the UK or Iceland got reminicences (sp?) ? Maybe because of this, the Limeys were not so quick to fall in with the rest of the EU in damning Canada. I’m sure it will cause us in the UK a problem or two with the federalists/Europeans but, personally, my heart warms when I see news broadcasts in the UK showing British fishing vessels flying the Canadian flag. — Regards Tony. CompuServe: 100256,3306

Response:

| | | | Bunch of stuff deleted… | | The McNeil-Leher (spelling?) report on PBS featured the problem of fishing | in international waters yesterday.  Some of the highlites… | | An ITN (?) international correspondant anchored the story and traveled to | Spain and visited a fish market.  What she found substantiated the Canadian | claim…many of the fish were undersized, including 5 or 6 inch hake that | would be impossible to catch with regulation sized nets. (I personnally | find this amazing since when deep water salmon fishing in Monterey Bay I | continually catch hake in the 18 to 24 inch size, there’s no shortage on | the west coast.)      5 or 6 inches fish could be a very large sardine. Did that ITN found turbot because I am very interested in finding one in Spain. I like fish and go to the market but I think turbot is sold freeze and sliced here in Spain because I can find it. Maybe, we export to Japan.      But you are right, here in Spain when underage fish is caught we don’t waste we eat but fisherman will have a penalty. Spanish people like underage a lot, it isn’t a joke. Spanish goverment do campaign from years ago.       "Pezque’nines, no gracias" = Underage fish, no thanks       "Pez" mean fish and "Peque’nines" mean very little, it is a funny "game of words" (literal translation).        But, Canada claims that our boat fish with unlawfull net and procedures in Newfoundland waters and this is not funny but only a lie. Spanish fleet caught in 1994 about 1,4 M of Tm of fish. You take an atlas and find our continental shelf, if you can. We must fish in waters of other countries or in high waters that usually are controlled by NAFO or other organizations. Do you think that other countries or international organizations let us to fish underage fishs?        If you answer yes. You or the other countries and international organizations are crazy.        Regards          Juan

Response:

    5 or 6 inches fish could be a very large sardine.

Yep, but it’s a VERY small Turbot.  Get to know your fish stock.     But you are right, here in Spain when underage fish is caught we don’t waste we eat but fisherman will have a penalty. Spanish people like underage a lot, it isn’t a joke. Spanish goverment do campaign from years ago.

Waste is not an issue.  Just because Canadians might use both the feathers and the meat doesn’t give us the moral right to station a thousand hunters in the best flyways along the US/Canadian border to shoot every last American Bald Eagle that flies into our sights.       But, Canada claims that our boat fish with unlawfull net and procedures in Newfoundland waters and this is not funny but only a lie.

Of course.  The captured net in question and the, even smaller, net liner along with the hidden bulwarks (one containing EU forbidden fish stock) and the double log books, are a Canadian fabrication.  Our government is quite willing to offer the world a very detailed "lie" along with displaying the evidence at the UN in New York just so we can be proven wrong.   And England and Russia (among others), whose fishermen, if not government, have had experience with the Spanish fleet, openly support our position.       If you answer yes. You or the other countries and international organizations are crazy.

Nothing personal Juan.  But the rest of the world, except Spain, IS crazy…  learn to accept it.  

Response:

| The Canadian argument appears to be that the Spanish fleet are using | nets with too small a mesh, and they have evidence of this.     They have made evidence of this. The Estai had suffered 4 OK NAFO inspections (3 canadian an 1 UE) this season before seizing and sudenly OPS!   The UK | press are also saying this, and that the Spanish authorities are | not policing their fleet.     Yes, you are right. UE, NAFO and other organizations police then.   As I said, it is in the interests of an | individual to catch as many fish as possible, rather than to take | a fair share;  this is true of nations as well as single people.     Do you know that Canada don’t pursuit the stop of turbot fishing but have a higher quota? Canada wants 60% and lets 12% for UE, do you think this is a fair share? | | Do you have evidence that refutes the claim that Spanish fleets are | using undersized nets?     As you must know the Estai was inspected at Vigo by UE (britains) inspectors. As you must know these boats have spare nets because that nets drag the botton and usually break. The Estai has 4 spare nets OK, well maybe fishermen made then during the return trip but the inspectors didn’t find the hidden departament. There was 100 tm of fish in Estai (Canada STOLE 50 tm) and the underage ratio was OK not 80% like Canada said.     This is the UE ( – Britain) position, the Estai was lawfull.     I believe that some boats in the large Spanish fleet could be using undersized nets. Are all of your fishermen lawfull? But a Terranova fishboat suffer about a dozen of NAFO (mainly canadian) inspections by season and I think is difficult for then.   If this is true, I can only say that I | must support the Canadian action.     Ok, you and your country support the canadian action and did veto the UE position. You belong to Commonwealth (sp?), your goverment is tory the ours socialist, your country and the mine have an old dispute about Gibraltar but as our goverment has said the world spins a lot and we will meet again. | | Andy     By the way I think is very unpleasant that yours tabloids, even a "good" newspaper like The Guardian, remember us Sir Francis Drake who was a bloddy pirate I prefer you remember us Nelson who was a great sailor. This tabloids recommend you don’t trip to Spain for hollydays, well I think is better you trip to others countries. Here in Spain we are livid with canadian goverment and britains more than with canadian people.    Juan

Response:

An ITN (?) international correspondant anchored the story and traveled to Spain and visited a fish market.  What she found substantiated the Canadian claim…many of the fish were undersized, including 5 or 6 inch hake that would be impossible to catch with regulation sized nets. (I personnally find this amazing since when deep water salmon fishing in Monterey Bay I continually catch hake in the 18 to 24 inch size, there’s no shortage on the west coast.)

I used to run an online pricing and landings volume service for all the major European ports and have visited most of them from Iceland to inshore wholesale markets and coastal landing sites and I have to tell you there is nothing new in any of the report quoted. Particularly the Spanish! You can even find undersized fish *and* shellfish openly for sale at retail fishmongers. The Canadian and Greenpeace representatives also brought up some very good points about international law on the high seas, that being that no laws are created until there are acts such as the Canadians sizing the Spanish ships, which prompt nations to meet and create new laws.  The last major precendent was in the early 70’s when British ships seized Icelandic vessels over a dispute about cod fishing.  The result was the creation of the 200 mile limit, previously it had been 12 miles.  Therefore one could praise the Candians for having the guts to make a move which will prompt international review of fishing practices.

Even being British, and being involved in fishing reporting at the time of the "Cod Wars", I wholeheartedly agreed with what the icelanders were trying to do. And are still doing to conserve their stocks. Thats why they still have a healthy fishing industry (reasonably). Something needs to be done drastically.  Are oceans are being raped, and its up to US and Canadian ships to give these countries a conscience, or artifical reefs for fish populations, and maybe a few carcasses for fish meal.

Its simple really: All you need is square mesh nets of a sufficient mesh size to allow immature fish to escape and grow; regulations on aforsaid mesh sizes should be enforced with draconian zeal, it may not cure the problem but would go a long way towards alleviating it IMHO. N.B. I am not a greenpeace or friends of the earth (sic) supporter. — Safe Sailing, Dave |                The views of this user are his own and not anyone elses! |

Response:

| So here comes this Canadian frigate, capable of 30 knots, and armed with 10cm guns. | and you have your trawler, 20kts flat out.  How is cutting your nets going to help? | They’ll get you if they want.      A question to you: How can a Canadian frigate seize a boat at 20 kts? | There is a long distance between protecting unlawful fishing and failing to | prosecute unlawful fishing.  I like fish, but I find myself thinking of the | ecological implications whenever I eat some.  Perhaps Spanish government should | be campaigning to reduce domestic fish consumption?      Spanish do campaign for season/surface fish. Blue fish like "sardina", "jurel", mackerel "caballa", "bonito" and tunna "at’un". But, we are the third in expected life and our rent per capita isn’t in top twenty. All people says that our diet is excelent: fish, olive oil, etc It is very difficult to say don’t eat fish and change your diet if the international experts says you have the best diet in the world. | I remember what Canada etc. did to the Capelin, I did a project on the Harp Seals,    …. | when seen from the point of view of the entire population. | | Which department are you in? | | Rgds Andy       Well, I am a computer architecture profesor and I work at Computer Science School of Madrid Thecnical University as you can imagine I don’t deal with fishing. I am in rec.boats because I own a PUMA 34 (spanish sailboat).       But, I have friend who are professional fisher they fished at big trawler in west Africa from Marocco to Angola. In hollydays we talk about these seas, sailing and fishing. So I know a bit but I don’t know nothing about assurances. My brother and my father are attorney at law and they deal with the assurance of my sailboat. I am lucky because I hate papers.       By the way, one of my friends is now policing the one-day fishboat in Malaga and he tell me that is very difficult he earn less money now, fishermen hate him but he sleep at home frecuently. As you can see Spain "tries" to police fish.       Edward, I know times are changing and the stocks must be evaluated and quotas be set. Now, we stop fishing in Sahara banks during February and March this stop is called the biologic stop and ten years ago we didn’t.       But, in Terranova we have quota and we don’t overfish it. Canada want a bigger piece of the pie and set the 60% for Canada and 12% for UE. UE ignored it and we fish within the old quota. Surely, after the negotiations we will have a less quota, but our fishermen will work in peace, I hope.       We don’t want to parcel out the high seas because It will mean that Spain will not fish. Our shelf, like Austin said, is less that 12 milles and we fish in high seas the 200 miles was hard for spanish fish industry. Even more, I don’t want to parcel the high seas because every country will fish without control as Canada did in their 200 miles and in the future I think we will see industry at Antartica because it is parcel. I want a world wide organization that controls the high seas resources that must belong to the entire world.       I stop here because it is hard for me to write in english.       Regards         Juan

Response:

This thread is turning away from the subject of the original posting, i.e., Canada as an agent of violence on the high seas, to one that whole-heartedly supports fish conservation. As the original poster, I think that this is good. I hope that as Canada’s motives are revealed to be as grubby as everyone elses, we won’t become so disillusioned that we forget the one good thing to come out of this mess – the attention that it has gained for the plight of our fish stocks. This week in the U.N. Canada was sadly shown to be operating under a double standard – one for itself, and another for the rest of the world. It asked that the turbot quotas it was demanding other countries to abide by outside the 200-mile limit should not apply to Canada within 200 miles of its shore. Since this is where most of the Grand Banks turbot reside, Canada wants to reserve the right to catch every last turbot for its own fishermen. This is what it was all about from the beginning. This is what Spain and the European Union were complaining about. They had agreed to a limit, but rejected it only when Canada said they wanted the lion’s portion. This is what I saw when I read he AP/Reuters news releases. This is what Brian Tobin, our "media mogul" tried to cover up with his dog and pony show in New York. Bullshit continues to baffle brains. So, perhaps we can put this aside and see if we can use it for our benefit. It caused some fingerpointing at Spain, which has a big challenge to come to terms with its eating habits and with its huge fishing fleet. But I think that it also illustrated that there are no innocent parties here, especially amongst Canadians. It has now been pointed out twice on this net that undersized fish are on sale all over the world. Why is their sale legal? All of us have to come to terms with our fishermen, painful as that is, and it is no more painful than here, in Canada, where on our east coast, fish are the only reason for living in an otherwise inhospitable environment. But any one of the fishing nations posses the technology and appetites to overfish, and if left unchecked they will do so. Fishing quotas were introduced for purposes of dividing up the fish pie amongst nations, not for conservation purposes. That is the practical reality that our media savey fisheries minister tried to cover up when he got too greedy at a NAFO meeting and caused the European Union to boycott the final vote and then renounce the quotas altogether. Not a pretty picture. But maybe we can salvage something out of it after all, by thinking about what we can do in our own countries to help our fishermen through these rough times, but not at the price of grabbing what they can when they can get it. Spain is not the only country to be worried about. They are only a scapegoat for our own guilty consciences. Respectfully, Austin Whitten – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – An ITN (?) international correspondant anchored the story and traveled to Spain and visited a fish market.  What she found substantiated the Canadian claim…many of the fish were undersized, including 5 or 6 inch hake that would be impossible to catch with regulation sized nets. (I personnally find this amazing since when deep water salmon fishing in Monterey Bay I continually catch hake in the 18 to 24 inch size, there’s no shortage on the west coast.) I used to run an online pricing and landings volume service for all the major European ports and have visited most of them from Iceland to inshore wholesale markets and coastal landing sites and I have to tell you there is nothing new in any of the report quoted. Particularly the Spanish! You can even find undersized fish *and* shellfish openly for sale at retail fishmongers. The Canadian and Greenpeace representatives also brought up some very good points about international law on the high seas, that being that no laws are created until there are acts such as the Canadians sizing the Spanish ships, which prompt nations to meet and create new laws.  The last major precendent was in the early 70’s when British ships seized Icelandic vessels over a dispute about cod fishing.  The result was the creation of the 200 mile limit, previously it had been 12 miles.  Therefore one could praise the Candians for having the guts to make a move which will prompt international review of fishing practices. Even being British, and being involved in fishing reporting at the time of the "Cod Wars", I wholeheartedly agreed with what the icelanders were trying to do. And are still doing to conserve their stocks. Thats why they still have a healthy fishing industry (reasonably). Something needs to be done drastically.  Are oceans are being raped, and its up to US and Canadian ships to give these countries a conscience, or artifical reefs for fish populations, and maybe a few carcasses for fish meal. Its simple really: All you need is square mesh nets of a sufficient mesh size to allow immature fish to escape and grow; regulations on aforsaid mesh sizes should be enforced with draconian zeal, it may not cure the problem but would go a long way towards alleviating it IMHO. N.B. I am not a greenpeace or friends of the earth (sic) supporter. — Safe Sailing, Dave |                The views of this user are his own and not anyone elses! |

Response:

   Well, I am spanish a thieving and a bastard as Antoinette Marie says.

I have not heard the quote, and would not like to be thought as someone who would regard the actions of some as a label for a whole nation. ButI am afraid because I am idiot too because I can understand why the world let to Spain (a small country) overfishing.

I am sorry, I don’t understand this statement.    We found San Juan de Terranova and fished (I am sorry must say overfished) the cod during centuries. Few years ago (20 or so) Canada extend its control zone to 200 miles for "preserve" the fish and now Canada have not cod. It is clear: cod was exhausted by centuries of spanish overfishing.

The Canadians are quite capable of clearing fish stocks on their own. They did this to the capelin.    We overfished Gran Sol and Sahara banks. But I am sorry we don’t get exhausted these banks yet. Even more, we don’t get exhausted our little continetal shelf yet. We fish surface fish too like bonito and Greenpeace (a spanish organization) helps us to stop the fishing way of other countries and defends the bonito "overfishing" spanish traditional way.

Long-line fishing is a good method because it is highly selective, catching almost entirely the correct fish, and because it is inefficient in man use.  This limits the number of fish caught. Greenpeace is an international organisation, and has many UK members.    Spain eat a lot of fish, we have a large fleet and must import. So Spain is a great market I think is better to sell then the fish than let Spain "overfish". It is true some of UE member do not permit us to fish off their coast but only during the transition period (we are newbie at UE) after this period we can fish and maybe we don’t need to import their fish. Surely UK fishermen will be LIVID again.    Juan

UK fishermen will be livid.  Whether they are justified or not is another matter!  They, and the other countries, have improved their fishing efficiency enormously over the last century.  This means that the fish stocks can no longer support their efforts. Perhaps you (Spain) should eat less fish. The Canadian argument appears to be that the Spanish fleet are using nets with too small a mesh, and they have evidence of this.  The UK press are also saying this, and that the Spanish authorities are not policing their fleet.  As I said, it is in the interests of an individual to catch as many fish as possible, rather than to take a fair share;  this is true of nations as well as single people. Do you have evidence that refutes the claim that Spanish fleets are using undersized nets?  If this is true, I can only say that I must support the Canadian action. Andy

Response:

Juan:   I have to echo they other comments on this article.  Times do change and people have to change with them.  Some professions are no longer in the demand they once were.  We have fished the worlds oceans to the point that what is being hauled in is hardly worth the effort.  We have to learn how to culture desirable species in captivity or we have to get serious about managing they in the wild.  There are may occupations that are no longer needed.  Buffalo hunters are certainly one.  But just a point of correction, Buffalo were not hunted in to vertual extinction to feed people.  They were hunted to that point to starve the indians during the indian wars in the 1870’s.  There was a bounty paid by the U.S. Army for buffalo toungs. Neil Cook User) writes: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Juan; I saw your note and would like to offer the following for your consideration … A little over a hundred years ago we, our ancestors, did a lot of things wrong which they thought were right, killing off almost all of the buffalo for example. To the best of my knowledge almost no one makes a living today as a buffalo hunter – because a century ago humans just got too darn good at it, and didn’t know it, didn’t recognize it, until it was too lake. Today’s fishermen, be they Spanish, Canadian, American, Japanese, it makes no difference, for the most part they’re just too good at their trade, they have paid too much for their boats, and an awful lot of them will soon be out of business, for good. Is it their fault? Yes and no. The older ones should have seen it coming, and so should the younger ones who recently went into the trade, and the governments involved should have made some effort, far more than they are now doing, to alert the fishing industry, the end of the trade as most have known it is close at hand. Juan, the breeding grounds of the worlds oceans will be parced out, and in all probability this will be ridgedly enforced by the various navies of the world; Spanish, Canadian, American, Japanese, China, England, etc. Juan, times are changing, and in some cases the changes will not be easy, for a lot of people around the world. …. but keep your chin up, tomorrow’s another day. :-)

Response:

Bunch of stuff deleted… The McNeil-Leher (spelling?) report on PBS featured the problem of fishing in international waters yesterday.  Some of the highlites… An ITN (?) international correspondant anchored the story and traveled to Spain and visited a fish market.  What she found substantiated the Canadian claim…many of the fish were undersized, including 5 or 6 inch hake that would be impossible to catch with regulation sized nets. (I personnally find this amazing since when deep water salmon fishing in Monterey Bay I continually catch hake in the 18 to 24 inch size, there’s no shortage on the west coast.) The Canadian and Greenpeace representatives also brought up some very good points about international law on the high seas, that being that no laws are created until there are acts such as the Canadians sizing the Spanish ships, which prompt nations to meet and create new laws.  The last major precendent was in the early 70’s when British ships seized Icelandic vessels over a dispute about cod fishing.  The result was the creation of the 200 mile limit, previously it had been 12 miles.  Therefore one could praise the Candians for having the guts to make a move which will prompt international review of fishing practices. As for my own overall opinions on the subject, one of the problems is that there is no longer enough fish in the ocean to support the needs of humankind for much longer.  Currently the worldwide commercial fishing fleet of 1 million ships looses over 50 billion dollars a year.  This is primarily made up by government subsidies.  It has been widely predicted that within 5 years fishing for such species as tuna, sharks, cod, halibut and flounder will cease because it will be too expensive due to the lack of catch. As a sportsman who catches and releases most of my catch, I believe all net fishing should be banned.  To me its the equivalent of strip mining. Mexican fisherman use nets to scour reefs for shrimp.  According to a 60 Minutes report, for every 1 pound of shrimp taken, 300 (yes, 300) pounds of "junk" fish are killed in these nets.  To me that is a major crime of conscience. Something needs to be done drastically.  Are oceans are being raped, and its up to US and Canadian ships to give these countries a conscience, or artifical reefs for fish populations, and maybe a few carcasses for fish meal. Sorry to let off some steam, but this touches a sensitive area. kevin

Response:

| | Personally, I think this is one act of piracy that was more than justified. | Here is an article by John Kim, posted in rec.outdoors.fishing.saltwater: | …. | It is ironic that the European Union is defending Spain when some of its’ | member countries do not permit her to fish off their coasts.  It has been | reported that Spain has such a long history of overfishing that membership in | the EU was conditional on Spain not fishing off the coasts of EU | | There is a lot more support from the Government of Britain than from the | people.  The Spanish don’t seem to police their own boats, and no-one else | can.  UK fishermen are LIVID (or so I am told) | | Andy     Well, I am spanish a thieving and a bastard as Antoinette Marie says. But I am afraid because I am idiot too because I can understand why the world let to Spain (a small country) overfishing. We have a very large fishing fleet surely in top five and we have a very short continental shelf less that 12 miles. So we overfish the high seas during centuries.     We found San Juan de Terranova and fished (I am sorry must say overfished) the cod during centuries. Few years ago (20 or so) Canada extend its control zone to 200 miles for "preserve" the fish and now Canada have not cod. It is clear: cod was exhausted by centuries of spanish overfishing.     We overfished Gran Sol and Sahara banks. But I am sorry we don’t get exhausted these banks yet. Even more, we don’t get exhausted our little continetal shelf yet. We fish surface fish too like bonito and Greenpeace (a spanish organization) helps us to stop the fishing way of other countries and defends the bonito "overfishing" spanish traditional way.     Spain eat a lot of fish, we have a large fleet and must import. So Spain is a great market I think is better to sell then the fish than let Spain "overfish". It is true some of UE member do not permit us to fish off their coast but only during the transition period (we are newbie at UE) after this period we can fish and maybe we don’t need to import their fish. Surely UK fishermen will be LIVID again.     Juan

Response:

In my last posting, I related a story that Eric Hiscock told in one of his books about the dramatic decrease in the fishing catch that took place off the southwest coast of Ireland, starting in 1922. I was struck with the fact that Hiscock, and the fishermen he talked to, took the disappearance of the fish in their stride and didn’t blame foreign fishermen for their problems, although I think if they were so disposed, they probably could have found a foreigner or two around to accuse. They were more inclined to find themselves, or the forces of nature to be the cause for the disappearance of the fish. Here is some background to the current fishing dispute. Canada’s fisheries minister was in trouble. The east coast fishing industry is in a state of collapse. It is being said that one of our provinces, Newfoundland, is no longer a viable place to live. Fishing is an inextricable part of their life. The Ministry of Fisheries is being looked to for solutions, when none exist. The current Minister is Brian Tobin. He comes from Newfoundland. Mr. Tobin is also in trouble on our Pacific west coast, where there has been a disastrous collapse in the salmon catch. He has been accused of, and taken responsibility for being inept in not dealing with the overfishing that has taken place there. All this adds up to a minister in trouble. He took two aggressive actions – one on the west coast, imposing stiff licensing fees for catching salmon, and one on the east coast, by talking toughly to the Americans about fishing in our waters. Both tactics worked and were popular. I’ve attached a news wire story I found on Internet this morning that gives more background on Mr. Tobin. Politicians these days are beginning to make Attila the Hun look attractive. Perhaps we are getting what we deserve. In both previous cases, Tobin acted legally, but he crossed the line when he seized a vessel in international waters. I suspect that the whole thing will backfire for Tobin because the international spotlight will require Canada to be more responsible when it comes to curtailing it’s own overfishing practices, and he will be forced to enforce stricter regulations in his own constituency. Pugnacious populists like Tobin will always be admired in some circles, but it’s important not to stray too far from reality in what is going on here – one man saving his hide – lest we polarize people to the point where no one will act rationally. Respectfully, Austin Whitten Copyright: 1995 by Reuters, R OTTAWA7 (Reuter) – The elderly, white-haired woman shook her finger approvingly at Brian Tobin, Canada’s fisheries minister, and urged him to keep trying to stop Spanish ships from fishing in disputed Atlantic waters. “You keep at them, Brian,” she told Tobin as he swept by in Ottawa’s airport to catch a flight to New York to speak to the United Nations about overfishing and conservation. Canada’s 40-year-old fish warrior, the self-described  ”avenging angel of conservation,” is clearly relishing the spotlight as Canada and the European Union battle over who has the right to fish for Greenland halibut in international waters off Newfoundland. The Toronto Sun tabloid newspaper dubbed him “The Tobinator” in a frontpage headline on Saturday. On radio he has been called “Tobin the Terrible.” His face is everywhere on television and the print media in Canada as he presses his point about overfishing with catchy soundbites and charts. “Brian Tobin helps Canadians rediscover their sense of nationhood,” the Montreal Gazette newspaper wrote. Tobin’s tough-minded actions in ordering a Canadian patrol ship to cut the nets of a ship on the high seas on Sunday and the seizure on March 9 of a Spanish vessel, the Estai, have won him wide praise in his home province of Newfoundland. Canada’s poorest province, Newfoundland has been devastated by the decline in fish stocks, with estimates that about 40,000 workers have been thrown out of work. The unemployment rate in the province is close to 20 percent. Many Newfoundlanders blame foreign fishing for decimating the stocks of cod, flounder and American plaice. Tobin has helped focus their anger and frustration. Born in Newfoundland, where his father was a fire chief and instructor on a U.S. Air Force base, Tobin was first elected to Parliament as a Liberal in 1980. The Conservatives won in a landslide in 1984 but Tobin was re- elected and became part of a small group of Liberal politicians known as the “rat pack” for their stubborn attacks on the ruling party. He was re-elected in 1988 and 1993. After the last election the new Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien named Tobin Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Since then he has deftly gained political support by drumming away at the theme of conservation of dwindling fish stocks. Newspaper reports say Tobin used his forceful personality to get the Liberal government’s cabinet behind his campaign against Spanish fishing vessels on the high seas. That stance has won him widespread praise in Canada and in the process made many cynical Canadians proud of the government. Tobin knows what works in front of television cameras, having once been employed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and by other radio and television stations. He has been photographed, for instance, running across the lawn in front of the Parliament building, and on Sunday he chatted with reporters at the Ottawa airport before leaving for New York and then again upon arriving in Manhattan. He has not limited his aggressive actions to Europeans. Last summer he outraged the United States by seizing two American scallop boats fishing off Canada’s East Coast. The United States later backed down in the dispute.

Response:

A little over a hundred years ago we, our ancestors, did a lot of things wrong which they thought were right, killing off almost all of the buffalo for example. To the best of my knowledge almost no one makes a living today as a buffalo hunter – because a century ago humans just got too darn good at it, and didn’t know it, didn’t recognize it, until it was too lake.

I would like to add one comment however. The fundamental difference

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Andy, I was the original poster of this thread. I read your posting today with interest. Thanks for sharing your dialogue with a Spanish national, giving us his perspective. I would be interested in hearing about the viewpoints prevalent in England. There have been front- page stories here in the newspapers about how British fishermen are supporting Canada by flying Canadian flags on their boats. But of course, this hasn’t been in support of ecology, but in support of controlling Spanish fishermen so that they will be less likely to fish in waters that UK fishermen consider their own. I think we are illustrating here quite clearly that all of the fishing nations are culpable in the matter of over-fishing. This is why I feel betrayed by my government, which is trying to depict itself as having only the health of fish stocks at heart, while grubbing at fishing association meetings to maximize Canada’s quotas. Public opinion has bought the Canadian’s stance, hook, line and sinker (no mixed metaphors here). They are trying to tell us we can’t wait for one more minute without risking the extinction of all the fish in the sea. Therefore, they are justified in using force and not diplomacy. My wife, who is reading Eric Hiscock’s "Wandering Under Sail", first published in 1939, read me a section from the book this morning about when Hiscock was cruising on the southwest coast of Ireland: "…I made several short cruises so that I could add to my knowledge of the coast, and I was much struck by the beauty and able appearance of the open seine boats which fished for mackerel during August, September and October between Berehaven and Valencia. Apart from these and the lobster boats, I saw no other fishing vessels. I was told that fish were scarce and that when they were caught there was some difficulty in marketing them". Hiscock notes that few fishing boats had been built in the area since 1922, when fishing went into a decline due to the light catches. "Many of the curing and packing stations which I saw were in ruins, and most of the boats lay neglected with gaping seams". Hiscock gives a detailed description of the technique used by the local fishermen for catching fish. It involved throwing stones ahead of the boat to attract the fish. Suffice it to say, only the term "low tech" could be used to describe the procedure. Where did the fish go? While it is intuitively obvious that the current technology allows fishermen to more easily find fish, and to catch them, thus depleting stocks at a great rate, I feel we still have time to act in a civilized manner. Governments have a tendency to whip up public frenzy in order to get their way and to justify violent acts. It’s an old, tired trick. I’m amazed it still works. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with specific knowledge about the risk of species extinction in over-fishing. In the past, it seems that fish stocks have increased when we stop fishing, and sometimes, spontaneously. Despite the technology, are we really in danger of fishing a species below a certain level that will not allow regeneration, and that will cause extinction? I think that this is the public’s main worry. While sailing in the Mediterranean, which has been fished and over- fished for centuries, I saw a huge number of fishing boats at work. I never saw them returning to port with a full hold, but they were all out there trying. We could still find in the market most of the fish that were in our reference book on Mediterranean fish that documented species in existence since Roman times. It should be noted that fish were never plentiful in the Mediterranean. It has to do with the lack of major rivers that flow into the Med – the Rhone and the Nile are the only exceptions – so nutrient-rich estuaries don’t exist. It’s actually why the Mediterranean has such a wonderful blue colour. There’s little algae for fish to feed on. The Med is almost a dead ocean. I am not trying to say we don’t have an over-fishing problem, leading to a massive employment crisis in regions that depend on fishing for a livelihood, just like in Hiscock’s day. I’m only saying, I think we are all in the same boat (it’s hard to avoid nautical metaphors) and that we have time to act responsibly and cooperatively. The signs are that all sides are willing, but that we need to resist being stampeded into violent squabbling over scarce resources. Respectfully, Austin Whitten

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Juan; I saw your note and would like to offer the following for your consideration … A little over a hundred years ago we, our ancestors, did a lot of things wrong which they thought were right, killing off almost all of the buffalo for example. To the best of my knowledge almost no one makes a living today as a buffalo hunter – because a century ago humans just got too darn good at it, and didn’t know it, didn’t recognize it, until it was too lake. Today’s fishermen, be they Spanish, Canadian, American, Japanese, it makes no difference, for the most part they’re just too good at their trade, they have paid too much for their boats, and an awful lot of them will soon be out of business, for good. Is it their fault? Yes and no. The older ones should have seen it coming, and so should the younger ones who recently went into the trade, and the governments involved should have made some effort, far more than they are now doing, to alert the fishing industry, the end of the trade as most have known it is close at hand. Juan, the breeding grounds of the worlds oceans will be parced out, and in all probability this will be ridgedly enforced by the various navies of the world; Spanish, Canadian, American, Japanese, China, England, etc. Juan, times are changing, and in some cases the changes will not be easy, for a lot of people around the world. … but keep your chin up, tomorrow’s another day. :-)

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I think you know nothing about fishing. I was born at Isla Cristina, a small fishing village at the southwest of Spain, and when I was younger I used go to fishing but only because I love it.

You would seem to have more first hand experience.    Spanish law punish the small nets and Spanish goverment don’t ignore it. The turbot live at 1km deep so the boat must have several kms of wire in order to drag down the net. This kind of boats use to drag 3 or more nets. How many time do you need for picking up the nets? Surely several hours. If a boat is coming to seize you, then you cut the wires and loose the nets. I hope canadian goverment will pay the nets.

So here comes this Canadian frigate, capable of 30 knots, and armed with 10cm guns. and you have your trawler, 20kts flat out.  How is cutting your nets going to help? They’ll get you if they want.    This kind of nets (lawful or not) catch stones, seaweed and other stuff. So they can catch underage fish too because they can’t exit. So it is legal (here and in Canada too) sell the underage fish but It is unlawfull to use small nets.

Obviously I do not have first hand information, but I have been told that the nets are limited to 180mm, and were 150mm lined with 80mm.  ’Even caught shrimp’ it said. That’s a big shrimp…..  but either the Canadians are lying, or the fishermen are.    Spain has a big fish fleet because we eat more fish than any country (we must import fish too). So we have good fishermen and unlawfull too. But WE DON’T PROTECT THE UNLAWFULL FISHING.

There is a long distance between protecting unlawful fishing and failing to prosecute unlawful fishing.  I like fish, but I find myself thinking of the ecological implications whenever I eat some.  Perhaps Spanish government should be campaigning to reduce domestic fish consumption?    We don’t want to exhaust the seas like canada says. I think Canada pursuits to parcel out the high seas like Antarctica is. I hope for "conserving" like Canada did with the codfish in their 200 miles.

I remember what Canada etc. did to the Capelin, I did a project on the Harp Seals, you remember the ones with the cute eyes that Greenpeace like so much?  One of the factors causing the population decline was starvation.  Failing to compete for dwindling fish stocks.  They are no saints. There is a new report this weekend over the fleet size.  Apparently when the ships are built the builder reports the sizes including engine power to Lloyds register.  The owner also reports these figures.  There are discrepancies of as much as 40% in a few cases, and trawling ability is directly linked to engine power.  Any comments? I don’t hate Spanish.  In fact I regard any description of any nationality as a group very dangerous.  I have no doubt there are good decent honest Spanish fishermen, and that there are crooked Canadian fisheries inspectors.  However remembering the theory of ‘tragedy of the commons’ I can easily see ANY fishing fleet fishing a stock into extinction if unregulated.  The gain to a single fisherman is very great, the loss to that individual of the extinction is comparitively low.  Conservation only makes sense when seen from the point of view of the entire population. Which department are you in? Rgds Andy

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Austin, as far as being boarded on the high seas when you are sailing there, you have more chance of running into the US Coast Guard and being searched for drugs and contraband than being stopped by the Canadian, unless you happen to be fishing for turbot or cod with nets that catch everything on the bottom.

In my original post, I said that as an offshore sailor, I was concerned that Canada seized a Spanish fishing vessel in international waters. I wasn’t worried about my own government, at least not on that score, but about the precedent that was being set for others. I may stand more chance of being boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard, and by others now, thanks to Canada’s action. While cruising down south, I’ve been approached by U.S. officials twice outside U.S. territorial waters. In both cases, I politely, but clearly identified myself as a Canadian flagged vessel that did not expect to be boarded at sea. In both cases, I was not. This may have been due to respect for international law, or because of our boat’s small size and fully loaded inventory. If it was ever searched, I have a list of things that I haven’t been able to find on board for years. Maybe another set of eyes… I stated in my posting that I used AP and Reuters news wire stories to help me to understand what was going on. The initial press reports in Canada were confusing. At first, they tended to give our government the benefit of the doubt. Now, the tabloids are still using the heightened emotions to boost circulation, but the established dailies are reporting more responsibly. While I was waiting for the local journalists to sort things out, I found some interesting facts in outside press stories. Here are two excerpts from a Reuters story that was on ClariNet: OTTAWA (Reuter) Canada put conservation ahead of strict legality when Canadian gunboats chased down a Spanish fishing trawler, fired across its bow and boarded the ship on the high seas Thursday, experts say. The arrest took place outside Canada’s 200-mile territorial limit in the Atlantic ocean, prompting the European Union to call the seizure an act of piracy. The Canadian government acted under a controversial law it passed last year to allow it to go into international waters to seize boats it believes are over-fishing… …“The unilateral measures adopted by the Canadian authorities … are in clear contravention of the relevant international rule relating to the Law of the Sea,” the European Union said Friday. That view was backed up by several experts. “Canada is not unique in this sense, that there are maybe one or two others that either do it or would like to do it, but nevertheless at this point it was illegal,” said George Washington University Law School law professor Louis Sohn. “They seized it on the high seas and that is illegal unless they (the Spanish) committed an internationally recognized crime,” said Sohn…. It was the "one or two others that either do it or would like to do it" phrase that caught my attention. Frankly I think Canada was acting as a responsible international citizen. Since turbot are migratory, the Spanish could fish back and forth just outside the line and slowly but surely suck off most of the fish in the Grand Banks, all the while wringing their hands about smaller and smaller catches. Why the heck do you tink [stet] they aren’t allowed to fish in EC waters, for heavens’ sake?

Again, I’ll quote another news wire story for historical background: TORONTO (Reuter) – John Cabot, the Italian explorer sailing under the flag of England’s King Henry VII, was the first European to stumble on the Grand Banks’ rich secret on his discovery voyage of 1497. “The history of the Grand Banks goes back into the mists of time, certainly before written record,” said Rosemary Ommer, a researcher at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. “The fact is, the Grand Banks has been an international fishery from the word go,” said Ommer. England, France, Spain, and Portugal all staked claim to the Grand Banks long before Canada was founded in 1867, she said. “The lack of a continental shelf of their own and a relatively simple navigation route drew the Europeans over,” said Ommer. “Spain and Portugal don’t have a continental shelf so they need a fishery and this is the only one they haven’t already fished out. That’s why they’re so interested in the Grand Banks.” Spain was a major player in the Grand Banks fishery until England and France supplanted it in the 16th century… The perspective here, I think, is that The Grand Banks does not belong to Canada or any other nation. Canada extended its territorial limit to 200 miles to cover most of the Banks in 1977.Canada now claims to be the "custodian" of the Banks, the ecological good guys, when all they have ever been concerned with on the Banks is to protect their own interests. This latest dispute started not because Canada wanted to stop turbot fishing altogether, or even to lower the agreed upon quota, but they wanted to have almost the entire catch to themselves. Where is the ecological issue here? This is the "big lie" that the government has managed to foist off on its citizenry, and with some success elsewhere. They don’t obey quotas anyway, whether fair or not.  Ignoring the Spanish fishing style is like watching people steal boats out of the marina next door and doing nothing to stop them because they’re not doing it in your marina.  By the time they run out of boats there and start on yours it’s too late to get any of the others back.Point is, when the Spanish run out of fish outside the line you’ll find that all of yours have vanished as well, all nice and "legal". Better to jump on the bastards now while it’s easy and there’s just a few of them, extending the control zone as necessary (remember the 200-mile limit now accepted by all was started by Iceland to protects its’ fishing waters, as I recall).

Unfortunately, this is the climate of opinion – massive cultural prejudice and hatred against the Spanish -that has been created by the Canadian government’s stance. I’ve heard more racially prejudiced remarks against the Spanish here in the last two weeks than I’ve heard in my entire lifetime. Her past record shows that Canada cannot claim to have, or trusted with, the role of impartial custodian for offshore waters. The Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper this week reported that Canadian vessels were cited five times last year to the North Atlantic Fisheries Association for breaking the rules. And here is what Greenpeace has to say about "Canada the Good": …Tobin [Canadian Fisheries Minister] said Canada’s hard line with Spain on turbot is a conservation issue. But Greenpeace suggests politics plays a role. “The timing is political,” said Catherine Stewart, Greenpeace Canada’s fisheries activist. “The next session, a very substantive session, of the United Nations conference (on straddling stocks) is at the end of March and it behooves Canada’s political agenda to focus attention on the problems of the distant- water fleet.” Stewart said Canada has been resisting the imposition of international fishing standards within 200-mile exclusion zones, even though it strongly supports international standards on the high seas. “If the cod stocks are any indication, Canada will not be great at applying high standards of conservation,” Stewart said… In summary, the state of the world’s fish stocks is an important issue, perhaps even important enough so that recreational boaters must expect that the sanctity of the high seas will be compromised. But I think I must stop short of putting fish ahead of international understanding. I have sailed in Spanish waters altogether, for more than a year – from Galicia, on the Atlantic coast, to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, and on to the Canary Islands, off the coast of west Africa. There is nothing wrong with the Spanish. They have a voracious appetite for eating fish – the biggest in Europe, which has given them the biggest fishing fleet in Europe. This is why they are involved in so many fishing disputes. They still have to import fish from other countries to fill local demand. They need to wean themselves from this diet, and from this industry. They know this, and are working at it. Changing national eating habits is difficult. Look at North America. Red meat is killing us, but it still occupies a big part of our meat counters, just as fish does in Spanish markets. Nations need to understand and help each other. Governments that cover up their mistakes at the bargaining table, or that arouse racial hatred for mercenary reasons, need to be taken to task. Citizens can counter official obfuscation easier now than ever before with instant on-line access to the world’s press through Internet. We have less excuse now for international misunderstandings, but it’s up to us to get it right. Anyway, this is getting a bit far out to seas for rec.boats ;-) .

I guess I don’t think so. It was by going to sea that I was able to travel to foreign countries and see people and nations more clearly, and to recognize what I once heard Desmond Morris say in his television series. "Despite some superficial, striking differences, it is remarkable how similar we humans are, no matter where we live". Respectfully, Austin Whitten

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| | There is little doubt that the Spanish ship was  "cooking the books", a | common practice apparently in fishing. But once again, Canada did the | ecological cause more harm than good by acting on its own. | | If you ever visit a Spanish port, as UK reporters have been doing, you will | find that the Spanish sell openly fish which are below breeding size.  Their    … | Andy | | (formerly Ecology student…) | |     I think you know nothing about fishing. I was born at Isla Cristina, a small fishing village at the southwest of Spain, and when I was younger I used go to fishing but only because I love it.     Spanish law punish the small nets and Spanish goverment don’t ignore it. The turbot live at 1km deep so the boat must have several kms of wire in order to drag down the net. This kind of boats use to drag 3 or more nets. How many time do you need for picking up the nets? Surely several hours. If a boat is coming to seize you, then you cut the wires and loose the nets. I hope canadian goverment will pay the nets.     This kind of nets (lawful or not) catch stones, seaweed and other stuff. So they can catch underage fish too because they can’t exit. So it is legal (here and in Canada too) sell the underage fish but It is unlawfull to use small nets.     Spain has a big fish fleet because we eat more fish than any country (we must import fish too). So we have good fishermen and unlawfull too. But WE DON’T PROTECT THE UNLAWFULL FISHING.     Do you remember the last bonito season at Azores Island? Greenpeace praise the traditional spanish bonito fish way and help us to stop the bonito fish way of the other countries.     We don’t want to exhaust the seas like canada says. I think Canada pursuits to parcel out the high seas like Antarctica is. I hope for "conserving" like Canada did with the codfish in their 200 miles.     Regards     Juan  (nowadays Ecology sailor…)

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Personally, I think this is one act of piracy that was more than justified. Here is an article by John Kim, posted in rec.outdoors.fishing.saltwater: …. It is ironic that the European Union is defending Spain when some of its’ member countries do not permit her to fish off their coasts.  It has been reported that Spain has such a long history of overfishing that membership in the EU was conditional on Spain not fishing off the coasts of EU

There is a lot more support from the Government of Britain than from the people.  The Spanish don’t seem to police their own boats, and no-one else can.  UK fishermen are LIVID (or so I am told) Andy

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: As an offshore sailor, I am concerned by unlawful boardings on the : high seas. In an attempt to understand why Canada, my country, broke : international laws by seizing a vessel in international waters, I <snip In spite of the provocative subject line, the jury is still out on the legtimacy of the boardings.  "As It Happens" interviewed a number of international lawyers who gave a variety of opinions. It just ain’t as cut and dried as Mr. Whitten would make it appear. For the record, the trawler was caught with 70% of its catch undersized. Two sets of log books Fishing with an undersized net and a "liner" which further restricted the net size. A "secret" compartment in the hold which was full of  American plaice (a "protected" species) The diplomats on both sides went through ritual gestures of righteous indignation but it did serve to bring the EU back to the table to close the loop-hole in the current regs.  (Currently, if a nation protests the quotas, for whatever reason, it is "allowed" to keep fishing as if there were no quotas). Given Canada’s reluctance to do anything provocative, ever, they had to be pretty sure of themselves to take this stand. dave — Dept. of Oceanography             QUICS:  dhazen Dalhousie University              Voice: (902) 494-3396 Halifax, NS CANADA B3H 4J1        FAX:  (902) 494-3877              Dal’s Machine – My Opinions

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Personally, I think this is one act of piracy that was more than justified. Here is an article by John Kim, posted in rec.outdoors.fishing.saltwater: ***** Here’s an update.  Those of you with Web browsers can read it firsthand from http://www.cfn.cs.dal.ca/Media/TodaysNews/NatStory.html. Canada released the Estai after it posted CAN$500,000 bond (US$360,000 – I didn’t realize the exchange rate was that bad :-) .  Apparently because they’ve confiscated enough evidence, and to give the European Community a face-saving way to open negotiations with Canada about management of the Grand Banks. Canada claims to have recovered part of the net the Estai cut loose before it was captured.  It had a 115mm mesh size, under the 130mm legal limit specified by NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization).  They also found 25 tons of plaice hidden behind false panels aboard the ship.  Plaice is an endangered species and their take has been banned for several years (according to the Boston Globe). Several other Spanish trawlers have resumed fishing near the Grand Banks, but have stayed clear of the sections of the Grand Banks Canada has pronounced off limits. A European Union diplomat said that Canada’s illegal seizure of the vessel invalidates any charges Canada may bring over the incident. A special session of the NAFO is scheduled in Brussels on March 22. My question is how effective is enforcement of NAFO’s regulations if these guys were so blatantly catching undersized fish with an illegal net (just how do hide that from port inspectors?) and had hidden panels installed on their ship.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to make laws, not enforce them, then get upset when another country tries to enforce them. ***** With a followup by Pete Degrassi: It’s been reported today that the 115mm net was also lined with a mesh of only 80 mm. That, in effect, creates a sieve. The mesh was so small that shrimp were found in it. It is ironic that the European Union is defending Spain when some of its’ member countries do not permit her to fish off their coasts.  It has been reported that Spain has such a long history of overfishing that membership in the EU was conditional on Spain not fishing off the coasts of EU countries.  They don’t have a leg to stand on. It would be nice if Canada could get a vote of support from it’s Commenwealth partners as well as  the United States. — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mark Crafts                                                   Melbourne FL — <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Mark Crafts                                                   Melbourne FL

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As an offshore sailor, I am concerned by unlawful boardings on the high seas. <big snip Canada can usually be counted on to act as a responsible international citizen. Perhaps that is why they are not being criticized more for what they did. I have to believe that this bone-headed action will only temporarily set back the cause of mutual understanding, co-operation, ecology, and international law on the high seas.

Austin, as far as being boarded on the high seas when you are sailing there, you have more chance of running into the US Coast Guard and being searched for drugs and contraband than being stopped by the Canadian, unless you happen to be fishing for turbot or cod with nets that catch everything on the bottom. Frankly I think Canda was acting as a responsible international citizen. Since turbot are migratory, the Spanish could fish back and forth just outside the line and slowly but surely suck off most of the fish in the Grand Banks, all the while wringing their hands about smaller and smaller catches.  Why the heck do you tink they aren’t allowed to fish in EC waters, for heavens’ sake?  They don’t obey quotas anyway, whether fair or not.  Ignoring the Spanish fishing style is like watching people steal boats out of the marina next door and doing nothing to stop them because they’re not doing it in your marina.  By the time they run out of boats there and start on yours it’s too late to get any of the others back. Point is, when the Spanish run out of fish outside the line you’ll find that all of yours have vanished as well, all nice and "legal".  Better to jump on the bastards now while it’s easy and there’s just a few of them, extending the control zone as necessary (remember the 200-mile limit now accepted by all was started by Iceland to protects its’ fishing waters, as I recall). Anyway, this is getting a bit far out to seas for rec.boats ;-) . —                                          /   Pomeranians, cats, sailboats,                                              sundry sporting activities and                                              handicrafts.

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There is little doubt that the Spanish ship was  "cooking the books", a common practice apparently in fishing. But once again, Canada did the ecological cause more harm than good by acting on its own.

If you ever visit a Spanish port, as UK reporters have been doing, you will find that the Spanish sell openly fish which are below breeding size.  Their fisheries inspectors are either incompetent or deliberately avoiding seeing these sales which are against SPANISH law.  The UK fishing fleet has been heavily hit by overfishing and EEC quotas, which is is painfully observing.  The Spanish meantime are using unlawfully small nets and catching underage fish which their own government is tacitly ignoring. BTW if the nets were legal why did the captain cut them loose? The effect of catching these underage fish is to prevent ANY replenishment of the stocks as none ever manage to breed.  This is the best recipe I know of to cause any stock to crash. OK boarding on the high seas is maybe a bit much, but it is to prevent the extinction of the species.  The Spanish government should be doing this but is not.  What should the Canadian government do to protect this  shared resource? BTW is there a better newsgroup for this??? Andy (formerly Ecology student…)

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As an offshore sailor, I am concerned by unlawful boardings on the high seas. In an attempt to understand why Canada, my country, broke international laws by seizing a vessel in international waters, I downloaded and read all of the Associated Press and Reuters wire service postings in ClariNews – some 39 of them, going back 11 days, to the 6th of March – that pertained to the seizing of the Spanish fishing boat . There is wide support for the government’s action here in Canada, accompanied by a mood of excitement and righteous indignation. I won’t go into the details, for I am confident that anyone who reads the AP/Reuters stories will come to the same conclusions that I did. The incident started after a failure of diplomacy at an international association of countries who fish in the North Atlantic. The Canadian delegation went home after getting a clear-cut good deal allowing them to catch most of the turbot in the Atlantic, and they ignored the seething anger that Spain felt for losing out. The details of international trade agreements are labyrinthine and emotional, but suffice it to say, the facts in the AP/Reuters stories clearly indicate that Spain had a legitimate gripe. Canada was authorized to catch 60% of the turbot quota, while Spain’s portion was part of the 15-nation EU’s allowance of 12.6%.  Spain and Portugal, the two main EU countries that fish for turbot, have 70 million people. Canada has 25 million people. You figure. Spain then announced they wouldn’t abide by the quota put on the turbot catch, which they are allowed to do. It was just a voluntary agreement. So Canada’s intransigence brought down the laudable accord that had been reached on limiting the turbot catch, negotiated by 14 member countries, plus the EU, representing 15 more. This blunder was only the beginning. Despite being asked directly to come back for negotiations, the Canadian government refused, and instead  passed a local law in Canada allowing it to seize EU ships on the high seas!  After the seizure, it claimed to be solely concerned with the ecological issues – the quota, and the size of the fish. Unfortunately, Canada contaminated its arguments by acting unilaterally, without impartial observers. There is little doubt that the Spanish ship was  "cooking the books", a common practice apparently in fishing. But once again, Canada did the ecological cause more harm than good by acting on its own. Is the Canadian government being more than dumb? When having to decide if harmful official behavior is caused by clever devils or bumbling bureaucrats, the latter always seem more likely to me. It has been suggested, however, that the government’s action was motivated by a desire to deflect the public’s attention from a harsh federal budget. Naw – much too clever a possibility. The ministry official who was in charge of the action, is now more popular in Canada than God. The people have been whipped up to angry levels by the government. Now they had a common enemy – outside the country. Before that, it was the politicians. Could it be? Naw – much too clever a possibility – but not unknown in history. I’ve skipped over details in order to present the overview, but it’s all there, in the Associated Press and Reuters releases, available on Internet. I was fascinated by what can be done with Internet to gain a clear-eyed perspective on a current news story, when the emotions of the moment, and the machinations of a government are working against it. AP and Reuters deserve credit too. Normally, their short news items are used as column filler in daily newspapers, filed by anonymous reporters. When collected on this subject, they added up to an impressive amount of information, both on what was happening, and on the background. It should be noted that the newswire stories show there are no good guys or bad guys here. Spain and Canada are both the biggest losers in the astounding decrease in fish on the Grand Banks, which leaves a huge number of fishermen in both countries out of jobs. In the articles, Greenpeace officials state that both sides have been guilty of overfishing. Canada can usually be counted on to act as a responsible international citizen. Perhaps that is why they are not being criticized more for what they did. I have to believe that this bone-headed action will only temporarily set back the cause of mutual understanding, co-operation, ecology, and international law on the high seas.

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