Pirates in the News! February 11, 2008

Ah me hearties. I have been remiss in my informing you of news piratical and nautical in the past several weeks, due to plagues and such, allow me to now fill you in.

First of all! I must share the most important news: My first mate, the adorable, 10-month-old rapscallian Beatrix has spoken her first "Arrrrr!"

now for news less dear and often more fearsome:


This glorious ship, the Tara, has finally returned from a scientific trip to the North Pole. It had been deliberately stuck in the ice off Siberia for 500 days; but is now warm and toasty in Norway.


Australians are examining traditional methods of fishing in reefs as a major part of their conservation plans. Pointing out how traditional taboos keep reefs from being exploited or overfished. Obviously, these cultural taboos break down near more populated areas.

“We need to find additional ways to help protect the worlds’ coral reefs – which support 500 million people – from overexploitation, which are locally and culturally appropriate. The most promising in a great many communities seems to be the one that has worked for centuries. However we also need to help these systems evolve so they can continue to work despite the pressures of the modern world.”

One of the world's most infamous pirate fishing vessels the Viarsa 1 has been reported to have been scrapped in Mumbai.

“At last an appropriate conclusion has been reached after a long process undertaken by the Australian government, although this vessel is just one on a long list of boats that, under the cover of flags of convenience, illegally poach Patagonian toothfish
(Chilean Sea-Bass) stocks in the Southern Ocean”.

This comes from the head of Oceana, an environmental group. The international court case against the Virasa 1 has brought a lot of attention to pirate fishing and given the extinction rate of fish in Earth's oceans, conservation and sustainability are essential issues for everyone.