At 9h00 am local time (5h00 am CET), five crew members of the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise attempted to deliver a written request asking that the pirate cease fishing and return to port. After hailing the vessel on radio, the activists approached the vessel in a zodiac. They found more than 20 fishermen on the bridge -- all wearing black balaclavas to conceal their identity.

The vessel is not displaying its name, port or call sign -- a method commonly used by pirate fishermen to disguise the origins and ownership of the vessel while fishing illegally.

"Illegal fishing is raging throughout the Southern Ocean," said Denise Boyd, Greenpeace campaigner onboard the Arctic Sunrise. "Pirates, having plundered the world's oceans, have now come to this remote place, the fragile waters around Antarctica."

"If left uncontrolled, this modern form of piracy will drive the toothfish and albatross to extinction," said Boyd.

The Arctic Sunrise found the pirate engaged in fishing activity 45 miles NE of the French sub-Antarctic territory of Kerguelen Island this morning. The vessel fled and the MV Arctic Sunrise has been in hot pursuit overnight.

The international environmental group sent its icebreaker, the MV Arctic Sunrise, to the Southern Ocean to document and expose illegal fishing for toothfish in order to protect the fragile waters of this remote marine wilderness and expose the pirate fishing problem.

A gold rush has developed in the Southern Ocean for toothfish that is so valuable that the industry calls it "white gold". In some areas up to 90% of the total toothfish catch is taken by illegal and unregulated longliners. In 1997 the total illegal catch of toothfish was around 100,000 tons with a value of over US $500 million.

Scientists predict that, if illegal fishing continues at the present rate, the toothfish will be commercially extinct in less than three years. In addition to toothfish, the illegal fleets are incidentally killing up to 100,000 seabirds every year. Scientists also believe that some species of albatrosses and petrels which are hooked and drowned by this longline fishery will be seriously threatened with extinction.

Greenpeace has called on the international fisheries body responsible for the management of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica - CCAMLR (= Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) - to take immediate action to end the pirate's plunder.

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