FV ''Margiris'' is the world's second largest fishing boat. It is a super
trawler and
factory ship
A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier wh ...
.
To Australia as ''Abel Tasman''
In 2012,
Seafish Tasmania
Seafish Tasmania is an Australian privately owned fisheries company based in Triabunna, Tasmania.
It is not to be confused with the newsletter of the same name.
Super trawlers
In 2010 the company ceased its operation of small fishing vessels ...
brought the ship (then named the ''Abel Tasman'') to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. She was originally authorized to catch a quota of 18,000 tonnes of
jack mackerel
Jack mackerels or saurels are marine fish in the genus ''Trachurus'' of the family Carangidae. The name of the genus derives from the Greek words ''trachys'' ("rough") and ''oura'' ("tail"). Some species, such as ''T. murphyi'', are harvested in ...
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. 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
Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...
, having reassumed her original name of ''Margiris.''
After leaving Australian waters, the vessel passed through
Cook Strait
Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A H, ...
, 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
Penco (Mapudungun: See (''Pen''), Water (''Ko'')), is a Chilean city and commune in Concepción Province, Bío Bío Region on the Bay of Concepción. Founded as the city of Concepción del Nuevo Extremo ('beginning of the new extreme') on Februa ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
on 7 April 2013. The vessel did not berth and steamed out of the bay to fish.
The Super Trawler issue was subject to a court challenge in 2014 and an Australian Government scientific report published in late 2014. 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.
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.
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
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of water, body of saline water, salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote List of seas, second-order sections of ...
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
Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
which is banned under EU fishing rules.
See also
*''
Naeraberg''
References
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-lin
External links
Details for the Ship Margiris (IMO Number: 8301187) with current real time position and ship photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Margiris
1985 ships
Ships built in Bergen
Trawlers
Fishing ships of Australia
Super Trawlers