Here we tour Lake Zurich for an hour and a half. They spent eight months of the year on the high seas chasing whalers off Antarctica. Why did you dedicate your life to the ocean?
Peter Hammarstedt: Healthy oceans are important. They produce about 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe. When it comes to fishing, half of the world’s population lives on the coast. For many people, especially in developing countries, fish is the main source of protein. In addition to the benefits that sea creatures provide us, they also have their own values.
I’m assuming you don’t eat fish.
I’ve been vegan for twenty years.
I guess you don’t want anyone to be a fish anymore.
I’ve seen a lot of things to say with a clear conscience that people should eat industrially caught fish. Now we only have half the fish we had 50 years ago. 90 percent of the waters are overfished or fully exploited. 20 percent are illegally mined – that is, one in five fish.
What does illegal mean?
This can mean many things. A ship is not licensed, and what fishermen take out is not documented anywhere. Another problem is fishing equipment. Trawl nets do not distinguish between fish species, so there is a lot of by-catch in the net. Last year I was in Gabon, Central Africa on a shrimp boat with the Minister of Fisheries. What we saw shocked the minister. When the giant net came aboard, only 0.2 percent was shrimp. The rest were other sea creatures.
Can’t you throw them back into the sea?
Most of the dead are trapped in these nets for two or three hours, like a washing machine for animals. We kill several thousand sea creatures for a shrimp cocktail.
Are you telling me this is new to the minister?
Yes, it has never been on the high seas. Also, Gabon is a developing country, they do not have the means to control all the ships.
What happened?
He ordered the boat to return to port. Not only that, all shrimp boats. They are still in port. But there are still many foreign ships fishing in West African waters. Therefore, governments should cooperate. Half of the oceans are high seas and do not belong to any nation, they are regulated by agreements between countries.
Who is the big player?
This is the Chinese fishing fleet. There are 2700 boats fishing internationally as they have almost destroyed their own fish stocks.
And next to China?
Ships from the EU – the largest number comes from Spain. They make agreements with developing countries to fish in their own waters. The aim of the EU is to bring cheap fish to the European market. We are concerned about whether West Africans have the capacity to monitor fisheries and whether this still-fish area will be depleted soon.
What does this mean for local fishermen?
Nothing is good. When there is no fish and people have no livelihood, they go to Europe. Governments created zones just for local fishermen. But without control, international fishermen approach the shore with their big ships. This means that if there is less fish near the shore, local fishermen will go further. This is dangerous. They do not have any equipment for this, very few of them can swim.
Have you already accomplished anything in West Africa?
Together with our government partners, we have detained 80 ships since 2015. We provide ship, crew, patrol and observation. Countries have law enforcement, coast guards, and arrest powers.
Why do we not care about all this?
We see it when the forests are cleared, we don’t see it underwater. And people have more ethical concerns about other animals.
Do humans show more compassion for mammals than fish?
Yes. I call them Disney vegetarians. They are only interested in cute animals with big eyes. There is another reason why we are not interested in fish. Fish do not have vocal cords and do not scream. Imagine what a horror show it would be to have thousands of these screaming creatures in the nets on the deck. No one would say “okay”. It has been scientifically proven that fish feel pain in a similar way to us.
Fish don’t care.
And this despite the fact that twice as many fish were killed than all the other animals combined. The public knows very little about the fishing industry. He does not know how commercial fishing affects other creatures such as dolphins, whales and sea turtles. Is it sustainable for an 80-metre ship burning six to eight tons of petrol every day to travel from Europe to West Africa to catch tuna and then export it back to Europe?
No, but it’s profitable.
Yes, the fishing industry is big business. But he has a romantic fishing idea. Anyone who has never been on an industrial fishing boat has the idea that a fisherman left his hometown at dawn to bring the day’s fish in a wooden boat to the local population. This is not the truth.
Do you really have hope?
Yes, I have. Activism must be sustainable. I want us to think about fish ethically and end illegal fishing. And today. This is a big challenge. We’re talking about the illegal fishing of hundreds of thousands of ships. We have largely eliminated illegal fishing in Gabon and Liberia. If we can do it there, we can do it elsewhere.
Sea Shepherd has also been operating in the Mediterranean since 2019. Why? Why?
The Mediterranean is the most fished region. Fish populations have declined 90 percent in 100 years.
Then why are you coming now?
The Sea Shepherd was originally an anti-whaling group. That’s why I joined. I hunted Japanese whaling ships in Antarctica for ten years. We have achieved our goal and put an end to the whale slaughter in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. So we had the opportunity to focus on something else. Japan, Iceland and Norway together kill more than 3,000 whales each year, but 300,000 dolphins and whales are killed each year due to industrial fishing. Whaling was not the greatest environmental challenge of our time. We actually found this by accident.
Random?
Yes, my team and I found a whaling vessel sought by Interpol in Antarctica in 2014. The boat was called Thunder and was an illegal fishing boat. We hunted for 110 days. From Antarctica to the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. The owner of the ship was in the Galician mafia. The captain is engaged in the cocaine trade. This is organized crime. The captain couldn’t shake us, so he sunk his own boat to destroy the evidence.
what was the proof
34 tonnes of illegally caught Antarctic cod.
And what happened to the crew?
They got on the lifeboats. We had to rescue everyone and hand them over to the Coast Guard in São Tomé and Príncipe.
Has the captain been arrested?
Yes, and he was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 15 million euros. It was a great success.
What other ships have you arrested?
We helped the Coast Guard in Liberia stop a ship that is killing endangered sharks to produce shark liver oil for cosmetics. This one ship killed half a million sharks every year.
Half a million! Is it legal to kill sharks?
It depends on the laws of the country. This boat was fishing illegally. The ship has been stranded and unfished for four years. This is one of 80 ships detained in West Africa. That’s two million sharks we rescued. I am proud of it. You asked me before if I had hope. This gives me hope.
The Sea Shepherd blocks, rams, and troubles ships. They are also called eco-terrorists.
In the past, we often traveled to the high seas where law enforcement was scarce. If governments do nothing, private organizations should. We are working with the authorities today because it is the most effective way to save sea creatures.
Does this mean the Sea Shepherd has softened?
I was involved in ship collisions, but this was in non-law enforcement areas. If someone breaks the law, i.e. illegally catches whales, it’s not enough to photograph the crime or start a Facebook group. Then you have to physically stand in their way. Our actions were never violent and we took them to avoid action. I think this is acceptable.