Tanzania: Captain Sentenced to 20 for Possession of Shark Fins
The captain of the Malaysian-flagged fishing vessel Buah Naga 1 Captain Han Ming Chuan, a Taiwanese national, has pleaded guilty to the charge of Unlawful Possession of Shark Fins in a plea agreement with Tanzanian Prosecutors.The vessel was arrested by Tanzanian law enforcement agents as part of Operation Jodari, a joint partnership between Sea Shepherd, Fish-i Africa and the government of Tanzania, to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.Captain Chuan has been in custody since January 2018 when he was charged with five crimes: Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Acts, Unlawful Possession of Shark Fins, Pollution of the Marine Environment, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Unlawful Possession of Ammunition.The owner, Mr. Dato Seri Lee Yee Jiat, and agent, Mr.
Whaling Protest Ship Collides with Japanese Harpoon Vessel
The Sea Shepherd conservation group ship 'Bob Barker' has collided with the Japanese whaling fleet harpoon vessel 'Yushin Maru No. 2' as the harpooners attempted to block them in a recent skirmish lasting about 6 hours in southern Antarctic waters. The incident, say Sea Shepherd, is an attempt to deter the protest ships from their current position, blocking the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, in order to prevent them from loading whales poached from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Whaling Ship Stopped in the Southwest Pacific
At 2:50 p.m. (AEDT) today the captain of the Sea Shepherd Australia ship The Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, reported his ship had just crossed into Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 200 miles off Macquarie Island, but a pursuing Japanese whale harpoon ship, Yushin Maru No. 3, has stopped one mile outside the zone. Federal Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt had been in touch with the Japanese authorities over the impending invasion of the Australian Whale Sanctuary, which includes the EEZ, by the harpoon ship.
