SUPPORT FOR OCEAN PATROLS

Earthrace Conservation has successfully completed the syndication of a dozen highnet worth individuals to fund its next fishery patrol vessel. Included in the list are a Saudi Prince, an Australian oil industry executive and a Swedish property developer.

These vessels (right) were recently caught fishing illegally in Philippine municipal waters. This was part of joint training patrols with a local Navy SEAL unit.

Earthrace’s Captain Pete Bethune says the funds will go towards a new vessel deployed in a variety of marine conservation projects, but with a main focus on fisheries enforcement. This will include training of government units in maritime surveillance operations, boarding hostile vessels, and evidence gathering to ensure successful prosecution of vessels caught fishing illegally.

“We already train a lot of fishery teams, but now we’ll have a mobile training platform to add to the package.”

Training will include live demonstrations of the latest in surveillance hardware such as FLIR thermal systems, Schiebel military drone, Raymarine

Blue Force tracking and satellite imagery. Fishery patrols are costly, but Earthrace has become great at using technology to improve operational effectiveness.

Training includes how to board and secure hostile vessels from small tactical craft such as Zodiacs and RIBS

The team is also focused on illegal fishing gear, especially drift nets. “These are like massive walls of death that are totally indiscriminate. Whales, dolphin, turtles, sea birds – all are caught in significant number by driftnets, and yet the ocean is increasingly becoming littered with them. We’ve identified a couple areas where this practice continues unchecked, and we’ll be heading there in the near future.”