Earlier this month three fishing trawlers illegally operating in the Antarctic were shadowed by the New Zealand navy. Because of rough seas the captain of the NZ patrol boat decided that it would be too dangerous to make a forced boarding and after almost of week of cat and mouse chases between the ice floes and bergs of the Antarctic the three trawlers escaped.

The trawlers, all with a history of illegal fishing, were after Antarctic tooth fish. – sometimes misnamed as Antarctic cod – which are sold as Chilean Sea Bass. It’s big business too with each of the three ships being able to hold more than $1 million worth of fish when fully laden.

The rewards are the reason why trawler captains and owners are willing to go to great lengths to hide the origin of the ships and where the profits ultimately go. The three ships operating in the Antarctic were the Kunlun, the Songhua and the Yongding and each have a dubious history of name changes and shell operating companies.

The chase and shadowing operation of the navy has led to the New Zealand police submitting a Purple Notice to Interpol on the three ships to try and gather information and background to the ships. Hopefully this will led the authorities to the final owners of the fleet.

Murray McCully, New Zealand’s foreign minister, seems to think that he knows who is behind the operation and the Spanish company he thinks is behind the ghost fleet have a long history of illegal fishing. McCully thinks it is Vidal Armadores who are the true operators of the vessels.

Certainly one of the vessels of the ghost fleet has associations with Vidal Armadores. Trace the Songhua back with its name changes and it becomes the Paloma V and this was owned by Vidal Armadores. The company was fined $200,000 in 2010 for the illegal fishing by the Paloma V.

There is increasing evidence that the fleet remains within the control of the Vidal Armadores. Since 1999 the company has seen 11 people arrested and 7 convictions for illegal fishing. Fines have totalled 3 million euro and three of its vessels have been seized.  But the 3 million euros in fines are dwarfed by the 16 million euros the family have claimed in fishing subsidies from the EU between 2003 and 2009.

So far investigations to tie the ships with the original owners have reached Panama where two of the ships – the Kunlun and Yongding –  are owned by a shell company called Stanley Management. They are based in the offices of the law firm Sucre, Arias & Reyes. New Zealand investigators are now working with Panama authorities to find the next link in the chain. The Songhua is owned by a shell company operating in Belize – Eastern Holdings Ltd.

The ownership history of the ships recorded at  Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources who govern fishing in the Antarctic shows the connection between the boats and Vidal Armadores.

It’s not just in Antarctic waters that the extended Vidal family have operated illegal fishing. They have been caught in the Indian Ocean and also been convicted in British courts for illegally fishing in UK waters. Other family members have been convicted in British courts for illegal swordfish capture in the Atlantic.

Currently eyes are on the Spanish government to see what their next move is. Under European legislation they have an obligation to ensure that their nationals do not undertake illegal fishing. Will Spain take and active role in investigating claims that their companies are in breach of international fishing treaties and start prosecutions to end the activities of the ghost fleet. The Spanish authorities do now have the tools at their disposal to deal with companies like Vidal Armadores. The government passed new legislation on 16th January this year that tightens up illegal fishing and poaching operations of its large trawler fleets.

Could it even be time for the EU countries to look to get tough attitude of Indonesia’s fisheries authorities who are now sinking boats caught poaching in their waters at the earliest opportunity to prevent the vessels becoming repeat offenders.

External sites.

Interpol Purple Notice for Kunlun (pdf)