WWF-Canada urges more action by Canada to curb the demand for Chilean sea bass

Dodging icebergs and bucking 10-metre seas, a flotilla of Australian-led vessels chased and caught the Viarsa I, a Uruguayan vessel, in a 21-day chase across the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans. The ship, its crew and 85 tons of Chilean sea bass (known in many parts of the world as Patagonian toothfish) worth an estimated $3 million, are now being taken back to Western Australia to face formal charges.

“It’s rare for conservation to be as swashbuckling as this,” noted Ernie Cooper, the Canadian representative of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring programme of World Wildlife Fund. “We certainly admire the Australian and South African customs agents and crews who refused to give up the case, in spite of fierce seas, numbing cold and personal risk.”

Cooper noted that, “Chilean sea bass is so valuable that it’s been nicknamed ‘white gold’. In the past, gold doubloons may have been the pirate treasure of choice, but these days, the real booty is illegally caught fish.”

Consumer demand in Canada – the fourth-largest market for Chilean sea bass – is helping to drive the fish to near commercial extinction in many parts of the world. Australia, which strictly regulates the toothfish industry, has one of the few commercially viable stocks left, making its waters a favourite target for poachers.”

TRAFFIC studies have shown that as much as half the Chilean sea bass traded around the world comes from illegal or unregulated catch. Australia, Great Britain and South Africa have been at the forefront of international efforts to curb this illegal trade, but, said Cooper, “much more needs to be done, because pirate fishing continues to undermine fishery management efforts.

“Catching the Viarsa I is a real victory for conservation,” he said, “but one that is tempered by the fact that this is just one of many vessels engaged in illegal fishing.”

The issue will be taken up at an international meeting of fisheries authorities in October in Hobart, Australia. Canada has begun to take steps to curb imports of illegally caught Chilean sea bass, but more action is needed.

“We hope that Canada will work with other nations at the Hobart meeting to secure the stronger controls that will be needed to end illegal fishing,” said Cooper. “It is important for Canada, as one of the major Chilean sea bass markets, to demonstrate strong leadership on this issue.”