Anti whaling activities in the Southern Ocean headlined this morning's daily onboard newspaper "Australia Today". The paper comprises four A4 pages printed from News on Board services via TEAMtalk Satellite. Anything from our part of the world, the
Southern Ocean, generates animated conversation.

Two Sea Shepherd Conservation Society members from the ship the 'Steve Irwin' boarded the Japanese ship the Yushin Maru No 2 to deliver a letter to the captain advising him that he was illegally killing whales in the Southern Whale Sanctuary. They were promptly taken into custody on the ship, where they remain. Notions of law at sea were bandied about at lunch along with the practicalities of regulation, prosecution, anarchy and foolhardiness. Opinion was divided.

I was in the CTD room when I heard a crackly message from the bridge over the radio. There's another ship on the horizon. I felt a pang of disappointment that the ocean has become so crowded. First the Orion at Commonwealth Bay, then the L'Astrolabe at Dumont d'Urville, and now what's this? Binoculars stay trained on what looks like a fishing vessel. Our Voyage Leaders with the Master and Mates hold a quick conference to iron out the protocols. Under the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Act they are required, in their role as inspectors, to report information on all vessels sighted.

We steam close by and make radio contact as we tick over beside it. Before long the bridge is crowded and the decks fill with our own paparazzi keen for close ups.

Voyage Leader, Martin Riddle establishes communication with the captain of the In Sung No 1 who readily provides details of the name of the company the fishing boat is working under, dates of the last and next ports, details of the catch, the equipment, license number and membership details of CCAMLR (Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources). It is half our size at 50metres and is operating under the South Korean flag along with a sister ship, In Sung 2. There are forty on board, including two fisheries observers. It has been in these waters since mid December and will stay until March or April depending on conditions because it is not ice strengthened.

We establish that the fishing boat carries seven bottom long-lines, uses squid for bait, does not use gill nets and is catching toothfish. The details faxed through by the captain confirm that In Sung No.1 is a CCAMLR-licensed vessel. It has a license for a new and exploratory fishery for Dissostichus spp (Toothfish) in CCAMLR Area 58.4.1, the area we are in. It's a lucrative industry. With toothfish conservatively estimated at around 10 dollars a kilo wholesale, a 100 tonne haul would equate to a million
dollars.

Our crowd dissolves away. No need to confine anyone below hatches today but I wondered what would happen if we did encounter illegal fishing. Would we, like the Yushin Maru No 2, take anyone into custody? And if so, where would we keep them? Perhaps the shop on F deck. I'll ask captain.

Pics:
fishing boat 'In Sung No 1'

Margot Foster is a journalist currently on board the Australian Aurora Australis, an Australian research vessel currently participating in the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML, IPY project 53). She works with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).