Pirate Fishing in Indian EEZ

Greenpeace activists from the MY Esperanza expose illegal fishing practices within the Indian exclusive economic zone (EEZ), off the Andaman Islands coast. The violating Burmese vessels have neither necessary registration documents nor a clearly displayed name. Their catch consists mostly of shark and yellow fin tuna. All four vessels leave for Burmese waters as soon as Greenpeace expose their infringement. A few days later Greenpeace exposes tuna long liners sailing under the Letter of Permit (LoP) scheme which allows foreign vessels to fish under an Indian flag within the Indian EEZ, but only when they have an Indian registration and an Indian owner. Like many vessels sailing under this scheme, these vessels were found in complete violation of the guidelines. Greenpeace calls on the Indian Coast Guard and the Ministry of Agriculture to investigate these violations. Under the LoP scheme vessels are allowed to tranship their catch—a practice that, since it is self-regulated, encourages under reported landings. At a conservative estimate, these vessels catch 60-80 tonnes of tuna per season, which are sold at the rate of 15 USD per kg on the international market. In return, they pay the Indian government just 200 USD for obtaining the licence. None of the catch is landed in India.