Arrrrgh. Begich says, “Sink the Pirate Ship!”
Saving Alaska from pirates – it’s the sort of thing I’ll bet those adventuresome souls who join the Coast Guard dream about when they sign on the dotted line. If I’m right, then it was a good day for the crew of the Coast Guard vessel Munro, based out of Kodiak. They seized a pirate fishing vessel on the high seas about 2600 miles southwest of Kodiak, that was full of 30 tons of illegal squid, sharks, and 10 miles of drift net. High seas driftnetting has been illegal since the 1990s because of the indiscriminate netting and deaths of unwanted fish, marine mammals and seabirds, and the devastating consequences to sustainable fisheries that ensues from the practice.
[The crew of the stateless pirate ship the Bangun Perkassa attends to its illegal nets before being boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard -Photo Coast Guard]
No romantic, treasure seekin’, parrot-wearin’ pirates are these. These are the pirates who go after today’s sustainable ocean treasures, and by devastating them for personal gain, rob the future as well. You’ll be happy to know that the 22 miscreants and scurvy dogs from the crew of the Bangun Perkassa are in custody after being hauled in to Dutch Harbor. The ship remains anchored miles off shore because of yet another problem – a horrible infestation of rats.
You may remember back in June of 2009, we reported on this story:
Alaska’s Rat Island is finally rat-free, 229 years after a Japanese shipwreck spilled rampaging rodents onto the remote Aleutian island, decimating the local bird population.
After dropping poison onto the island from helicopter-hoisted buckets for a week and a half last autumn, there are no signs of living rats and some birds have returned, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The $2.5 million Rat Island eradication project, a joint effort between the U.S. federal government, the Nature Conservancy and Island Conservation, is one of the world’s most ambitious attempts to remove destructive alien species from an island.
I know – in Alaska we even kill rats from helicopters.
Not wanting another 2-century rodent occupation, Senator Mark Begich has come up with a plan – sink the ship.
“Rats have been devastating to waterfowl and other native wildlife species in Alaska and spread disease and contamination,” said Begich, who chairs the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Fisheries and the Coast Guard. “The State of Alaska is correct in banning this infested vessel from port but I am concerned rat eradication efforts will not be totally effective.”
“In addition to solving the rat problem, using the Bangun Perkasa for gunnery practice could demonstrate the advanced firepower of the Coast Guard’s new National Security Cutters,” Begich said. “It would send an unambiguous signal that pirate fishing is unacceptable to the United States and will not be tolerated. It will prevent this rust bucket from ending up back on the market where it most likely would only fall into the hands of some other pirate. For all these reasons, I strongly recommend the Coast Guard sink the fishing vessel Bangun Perkassa.”
Rust bucket? Ouch.
So, it looks like Ye Olde Rust Bucket will be dragged out to sea, and blown to kingdom come. That’ll teach ’em a lesson. And the varmits can go visit Davey Jones’ rat locker. Arrrgh.
Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) or pirate fishing is a multi-billion dollar, world-wide criminal enterprise which threatens the sustainability of marine resources and the livelihoods of legitimate fishermen in Alaska, and around the world. Vessels engaged in pirate fishing often flout other rules including basic worker safety requirements, labor rights, and food safety standards. The United States is party to several multi-lateral agreements to enforce laws against IUU fishing.
Now you can really impress everyone on “Talk Like a Pirate Day” when you come out with a gem like, “Well mateys, let’s release the drift net off the shores of Kodiak and see what kind of illegal bycatch we can net in violation of multi-lateral agreements signed by the United States!”
On talk like a pirate day, I still will stick to banker speak.
Yep, remove nets and burn, drain oil and scuttle the beast.
Burn those drift nets first. Don’t want them tangling up more wildlife down there.
hhhmmm,,, rats are pretty tough animals… how far can a rat swim??
Just what I was thinking.
All the way to Juneau,
Aargh, I had me sorry soul saved by a squad of gallant Coasties off the waters of Prince of Wales Island many years ago. They are the guardian angels of generations of Alaska boaters, float plane passengers, and fisherfolk. Good on ’em for netting a bunch of scurvey rats. Semper paratis, mates!
@ Baker’s Dozen – methinks the pirates are Indonesian or Malaysian, given the name of the vessel.
I’m with the senator on this one. I further concur with his judgement of “rust bucket,” based on the posted picture. Probably not worth much in scrap either.
This old Coastie says blow it up, and drain the oil, remove anything else hazardous. Then take it way, way, way out to sea and blast away. The newbies need the practice.
Arrrrhhhh!
Arrrg, me heartys, gather round
I’ll tell ye of a mother’s son
A mate in Blighty of great renown
His name ‘t were Robert Newton.
A Dorset man he was by gar’
His sire a dauber ranked “RA”
Our Robert not just Silver didst portray
But so too Horatio oppos’d Oliver.
‘T were demon rum what did our boy
A mere half century gone by
His ashes now in Cornwall be
Upon the briny do they ply.
So when you give’s your eye a squint
In gravely tones address the crew
With head a’ tilt, give Bob a thought
A give one to his parrot too.
The pirate ship may be stateless, but where were the pirates themselves from?
Wasilla.
How do you come up with a rat poison that no other animals would eat? And is there other wildlife on the island that might eat the dead rats and thereby become poisoned as well?
Aargh, indeed. Not sure Davey Jone’s locker wants those rats… worse that the bottom of a chum bucket.
Okay AKM your paragraph that states….”.pirate fishing often flout other rules including basic worker’s safety requirements,labor rights and food safety standards” This boat is a right wing nut jobs korporate wet dream to maximize potential profits and incur little liability by deregulating the workplace for the benefit of the wealthy. Could it be the party of no is exporting their korporate ideals to third world hooligans?
By Jove, I think you’ve got it! Everything about the ship, its crew, its wares, and its mission, fits hand-in-glove with the business creating and growing model the GOP/TBaggers would have the entire nation adhere to.
Forget the third world, mikefromiowa, the lessons from the pirate ship are what the Party of ‘No’ [the GOPers] and the Party of ‘Helll Noe” [the Tea Baggers] want right here, right now. beth.
Torch it! Just dealing with rats on Kodiak Island is a major hassle let alone on any remote Aleutian island with a fairly pristine animal and bird population. Take the fuel off and blow the hell out it! I am wholeheartedly with Begich on this solution.
I’d rather see them torch it to be sure all rats are gone and then cut the whole thing up and sell the steel for recycling. Isn’t the price of steel up these days?
me mateys and me says to blow up the boat, the rats and the scurvy crew. we hates them all. arrrrgh also too.
harrrrrrrrrgggghhh
Wouldn’t sinking the ship result in a significant environmental problem, with the oil and whatever else is on board? It doesn’t sound like such a great idea.
When they scuttle a ship, the oil is drained, and the ship is sunk in an area that will allow it to become something like a reef, that will support sea life. There was just a great post on this blog about just this very thing. Interesting reading: http://alaskacafe.blogspot.com/