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South Africa nets illegal haul of Patagonian toothfish
28th March 2003
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA:
South Africa said this week it had seized 235 tonnes of rare Patagonian toothfish in Cape Town, which appeared to be destined for dining tables in the Far East and the United States.
"A consignment of nine containers of Patagonian toothfish were offloaded at Cape Town Harbour after allegedly (being) discharged from a Uruguayan registered fishing vessel, the "Lugal Pesca", in Walvis Bay harbour, Namibia," the environment and tourism ministry said in a statement.
It said the cargo was valued at around 20 million rand ($2.5 million) and its final destinations were believed to be China, Hong Kong and Los Angeles. It was seized on Tuesday.
South Africa is a member state of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources, and has obligations to monitor and protect the exploitation of Patagonian toothfish, the ministry said.
The Convention is aimed at ensuring legal fishing trade on the world market.
A tasty but ugly deep-sea predator, the Patagonian toothfish has become an unlikely symbol for wildlife conservationists. Experts have warned that it could become commercially extinct by 2007 because of illegal overfishing.
The large, long-lived fish inhabits the world's southern waters and there is much pirate fishing of the species, which accounts for half the world's supply of the delicacy.
Marine conservationists say the population is fast shrinking and has nearly disappeared off the southern coast of Africa.
The fish can grow to be as long as two metres (7 feet). It reproduces relatively slowly, reaching sexual maturity after 10 years, making it more vulnerable to overfishing.
PLANET ARK / REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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