FV Margiris

FV Margiris is the world's second largest fishing boat. It is a 9,500 GT super trawler and factory ship.[1]

History
Lithuania
Name
  • Margiris
  • Abel Tasman (2012 – 2013)
  • Margiris (? – 2012)
  • Annelies Ilena (2006 – ?)
  • Atlantic Star (1999 – 2006)
  • Siberian Enterprise (1998 – 1999)
  • Apollo Two (1997 – 1998)
BuilderTacoma Boatbuilding Company, (Mjellem & Karlsen Verft, Bergen, Norway 1997 rebuild)
Launched12 March 1985
RenamedMargiris
HomeportKlaipėda
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class and typeSuper Trawler
Tonnage
Length136.1 m (447 ft)
Beam18 m (59 ft)
Draught5.5 m (18 ft)
Decks32

To Australia as Abel Tasman

In 2012, Seafish Tasmania brought the ship (then named the Abel Tasman) to Australia.[2][3] She was originally authorized to catch a quota of 18,000 tonnes of jack mackerel and redbait along the southern shores of the country.

After protests against her use by environmental and fishing industry groups, the Australian government passed legislation prohibiting the trawler from fishing in Australian waters for two years.[4][5] For this reason, Seafish Tasmania subsequently sold its stake in the vessel to Dutch company Parlevliet & Van der Plas. On 6 March 2013, after six months moored in Australian waters, she left Port Lincoln, having reassumed her original name of Margiris.[6][7]

After leaving Australian waters, the vessel passed through Cook Strait, New Zealand on 20 March 2013. She was now flagged to Lithuania and owned by Atlantic High Sea Fishing Company.

Subsequent issues

Margiris arrived in Port of Penco, Chile on 7 April 2013. The vessel did not berth and steamed out of the bay to fish.[8] [9]

The Super Trawler issue was subject to a court challenge in 2014 [10] and an Australian Government scientific report published in late 2014.[11] Before and after this report there was reaffirmation that super trawlers over 130 metres, like Margiris, would not be permitted under Australia's environmental protection law, yet controversy continues in Australia about factory-fishing boats.[12]

In late October 2015, the Margiris was fishing off the North west coast of Ireland. The Irish naval service fisheries inspectors refused to board her at sea, due to adverse weather condition. She had departed the waters shortly before the weather improved. In November 2016, the Margiris entered Irish water. The ship had been active for a day when it was boarded by an Irish Naval Service fisheries inspection team.[13]

In February 2022, the Margiris shed over 100,000 dead fish into the Atlantic Ocean off France, covering an area in excess of 3,000 sq m. A representative of the ship's owners stated that it was due to a net break but Sea Shepherd France, a marine conservation organization, said it did not believe the incident was accidental, but rather an attempt by the trawler to discharge a type of fish that it did not want to process, a practice known as discharging bycatch which is banned under EU fishing rules.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Minister queries super trawler quota". ABC News. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  2. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Radio National (5 September 2012), Super trawler, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 20 November 2017
  3. "Stoush over super trawler port access". ABC News. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  4. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. News (3 September 2012), Super-Trawler boss: protests not a concern, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 20 November 2017
  5. "Laws to stop super trawler pass Lower House". ABC News. 14 September 2012.
  6. "Super trawler sails off from controversy". ABC News. 6 March 2013.
  7. Andrew Duffy (7 March 2013). "Super-trawler sets sail". Food magazine.
  8. Michael Field (26 March 2013). "Super trawler in Cook Strait". Marlborough Express.
  9. "AIS track for "Margiris" 20 March 2013". 20 March 2013.
  10. "Insights".
  11. "Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment".
  12. "Supertrawler ban is flawed, say environmental and fishing groups". TheGuardian.com. 26 December 2014.
  13. "Super Trawler Update | World's second largest vessel active off Irish coast". Coast Monkey. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  14. "Floating carpet of dead fish found off French coast after trawler incident". 1450 AM 99.7 FM WHTC | Holland. Retrieved 4 February 2022.

Report of the Expert Panel on a Declared Commercial Fishing Activity - Final (Small Pelagic Fishery) Declaration 2012, Expert Panel on a Declared Commercial Fishing Activity, Dec 2014, available on-line

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