Category Archives: High Seas

Seablip's successful Kickstarter campaign recently ended, and it looks like the game will be launching sometime 2021. Though that may seem like a long time away, we here at TheGamer got our hands on some new scenes that might help pass the time.

Though Seablip draws its inspiration from Stardew Valley, the new pirate-themed adventure allows players to explore and battle on the high seas. However, the two games have one big thing in common: their art style. Similar to Stardew Valley, Seablip uses a pixel art style. Pixel art is reminiscent of a simpler time, but Seablip keeps things fresh with its breathtaking ocean views.

RELATED: Seablip: Everything We Know About The Stardew Valley-Inspired RPG (So Far)

TheGamer got in touch with Seablip's developer, Jardar Solli, who provided us with some exclusive, in-progress images.

Here's a closer look:

Seablip follows the journey of a captain who lives on a small island called Seablip. As captain, players get their very own ship that they can use to explore the game's massive world. However, the waters are brimming with countless dangers, so players must be wary.

Players can discover and visit various islands in the game and, according to Solli, this island (which can be seen above) is an important trading port. This likely means that players will be able visit this town to buy and sell various items throughout the game.

Although this image provides a glimpse of a desert island, part of Seablip's story will also take place up north, as there is a "mystic sound coming from the north" that players can investigate. This means that we'll also see a lot of wintery scenes with snow and icebergs, which could make for treacherous seas.

Since part of Seablip's story focuses on the "mystic sound" in the north, it seems like players will have a lot of exploring and investigating to do in order to find out what exactly is going on. The image above shows off an island inhabited by two tribes. These two tribes feel a close connection to nature and are therefore concerned about melting ice in the north.

RELATED: Seablip, The Stardew Valley-Inspired Pirate Adventure, Hits Its Kickstarter Goal

Though these two tribes live closely together, they are both unique with distinctive ships and weapons. Players will likely see a lot of different ships within the game as they explore new areas and meet new characters.

This image was provided to Seablip's Kickstarter backers and shows a cave occupied by the Bluecoats. In Seablip, the Redcoats and Bluecoats have fought in a seemingly-endless war for more than 100 years -- and it doesn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. Players are given the option of either siding with one group and fighting with them, or choosing to go rogue.

According to Solli, this cave is used to deliver weapons to Bluecoat forces. Should players choose to side with the Redcoats and visit this cave, we can speculate that this island might take up arms and fight against them.

Seablip initially gained traction on Kickstarer and has since more than met its funding goal. Though the campaign is now over, Solli had previously stretched the Kickstarter goals to include new features, such as fishing. Seablip is currently slated for a Q4 2021 release and we're hoping that we'll see more images and videos of the game as we get closer to its launch date.

Seablipis planning to release sometime in Q4 2021 on PC and Mac.

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Jen is a news editor who initially began writing for TheGamer in 2017 before working as an editor for Screen Rant. She is a part-time gamer and full-time cat parent based in Montral, Canada. She loves messing around with Photoshop and has sunk more hours than shed care to admit into some games, specifically ones that start with S and end with kyrim and others that feature a certain green-clad Hylian.

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Here's An Exclusive Look At Stardew Valley-Inspired Seablip - TheGamer

The Best of Times: The Musical Wisdom of Jerry Herman, a tribute to the Tony-winning composer-lyricist who passed away in December 2019, will be presented March 12 at 7 PM at Feinstein's/54 Below.

Produced and directed by Scott Coulter, the evening will feature the talents of Tony nominee Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!, upcoming Encores! Love Life), Tony nominee Christine Andreas (La Cage aux Folles), Klea Blackhurst (Hello, Dolly!), Chris Blem (Matilda), Lexie Dorsett Sharp (School of Rock), Lisa Howard (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, It Shoulda Been You), Tony winner Cady Huffman (The Producers), cabaret favorite Molly Pope, Kelli Rabke (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street, La Cage aux Folles), and Mark Waldrop (When Pigs Fly).

The artists will be joined by ASCAP Foundation scholarship recipients Tori Sicklick and John Peterson. John Boswell serves as musical director.

Herman, who, with Hello, Dolly! and Mame, wrote two of the most popular and tuneful Broadway musicals of the 1960splus the groundbreaking La Cage aux Folles in the 1980s and a handful of musicals and rousing show tunes in betweenwas the recipient of four Tony Awards, including a 2009 Special Award for Lifetime Achievement. Read the full Playbill obituary for Mr. Herman here.

For ticket information visit 54Below.com.

READ: Broadway Pays Tribute to Master Hit Maker Jerry Herman

Baldwin will be a special guest performer on Playbill Travels upcoming Broadway on the High Seas cruise, Broadway in the Great Northwest. Cabins are now on sale for Playbill Travels first domestic cruise, also featuring Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, and Beth Leavel (April 26May 4, 2020); for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy, and Lindsay Mendez; for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020January 7, 2021); and for Broadway on the Caribbean (February 1522, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.

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Kate Baldwin, Cady Huffman, More Set for The Best of Times: The Musical Wisdom of Jerry Herman - Playbill.com

A lineup of new and returning experiences are coming to Walt Disney Worlds Resort hotels this spring, including a chocolate workshop, Mermaid School, and more!

This hands-on workshop at Disneys Riviera Resort will offer a taste of The Ganachery, the specialty chocolate shop located at Disney Springs. Guests will learn from an expert Chef Chocolatier how to properly taste chocolate, see a demonstration of how to make ganache, and create their own chocolate truffle pops.

This class begins in March, and will be offered on Sundays at 11 a.m. Classes are $60 per person plus tax. Reservations can be made by calling (407) WDW-PLAY.

Back by popular demand, this experience gives guests ages 4 and up the chance to be mermaids with fun pool activities, complete with a swimmable tail just like Ariel. At the end of the experience, guests will now get a special medallion to commemorate their time under the sea.

Mermaid School will return on March 1, with classes offered at new locations. Guests will be able to experience this offering at Disneys Art of Animation Resort, Disneys Caribbean Beach Resort, Disneys Yacht & Beach Club Resorts, Disneys All-Star Music Resort, Disneys Polynesian Village Resort, and Disneys Riviera Resort.

Classes are $55 per person plus tax, and reservations can be made by calling (407) WDW-PLAY.

Let your inner artist out with this experience at Disneys Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. The two-hour board-and-brush-style workshop lets guests ages 8 and up design, paint, and take home their own rustic wooden sign. While painting, participants can enjoy light food and beverage options.

Crocketts Craft Corner is offered on Wednesday afternoons inside Trails End Restaurant and is priced at $75 per person plus tax. Reservations can be made by calling (407) WDW-PLAY.

Looking for a fun way to stay active on your Disney vacation? Try one of the many Fun Runs offered at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels!

Courses range from 1.2-1.8 miles at the following resorts:

Fun Runs are $15 per person plus tax, and include a custom bib, finishers prize, and a selection of snacks. Guests ages 2 and under are free, and strollers are welcome during the runs. You can reserve your spot by calling (407) WDW-PLAY.

Captain Hooks Pirate Crew is back at Disneys Beach Club Resort for another year of high-seas fun. This group experience invites kids ages 4-12 to go on an epic adventure with Captain Hook and his crew in search of hidden treasure around Crescent Lake, leading up to a pirate feast!

Captain Hooks Pirate Crew is a great way for kids to have fun in a safe environment while parents head off on their own.

This experience is $55 plus tax per child, and now through May 31, Annual Passholders can get 10 percent off the ticket price. Disney Vacation Club Members can also get 10 percent off, though theres no end date for that offer. To reserve a spot, call (407) 824-KIDS.

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Mermaid School and more coming to Walt Disney World Resort hotels this spring - Attractions Magazine

Abstract

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing is widespread; it is therefore likely that illicit trade in marine fish catch is also common worldwide. We combine ecological-economic databases to estimate the magnitude of illicit trade in marine fish catch and its impacts on people. Globally, between 8 and 14 million metric tons of unreported catches are potentially traded illicitly yearly, suggesting gross revenues of US$9 to US$17 billion associated with these catches. Estimated loss in annual economic impact due to the diversion of fish from the legitimate trade system is US$26 to US$50 billion, while losses to countries tax revenues are between US$2 and US$4 billion. Country-by-country estimates of these losses are provided in the Supplementary Materials. We find substantial likely economic effects of illicit trade in marine fish catch, suggesting that bold policies and actions by both public and private actors are needed to curb this illicit trade.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) (1) fishing is global in nature, but more widespread in certain regions (23). This implies that IUU fishing is an important negative driver that needs to be tackled by both the global community and individual countries if we wish to secure sustainable and inclusive benefits from renewable marine resources (4). In the absence of truly effective national, regional, and international institutions, policies, and actions, and in the presence of international noncooperation, IUU fishing is undermining the ability of coastal countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations that the world has agreed upon (5). IUU fishing has the potential to exacerbate the detrimental effects (6) and losses that global illicit trade in marine catch has on individuals, societies, and governments, as well as nature.

The Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum defines illicit trade as trade that involves money, goods or value gained from illegal and generally unethical activity. It encompasses a wide variety of illegal trading activities, including human trafficking, environmental crime, illegal trade in natural resources, various types of intellectual property infringements, trade in certain substances that cause health or safety risks, smuggling of excisable goods and trade in illegal drugs, as well as a variety of illicit financial flows (7). For example, illicit trade in the arts involves people stealing, selling, forging, and trading artwork illegally.

We would like to stress that not all fisheries catches that are unreported can be assumed to be illegal. In many cases, small-scale, artisanal catches are simply not reported because there is no official or legal mandate to record and hence report such catches, or even if there notionally is such a requirement, no data collection system or resources are in place to record and report all artisanal catches in many coastal communities around the world (89).

Daniels et al. (3) identify two major potential channels through which illicit trade in fish is enabled. The first practice uses at-sea transshipments, which involves offloading catches from multiple fishing boats onto large freezer and processing ships at sea. This makes proper and transparent accounting of the origin and legality of catches very difficult or even impossible to achieve. For example, transshipment activities account for about 16% of fish exported from West African waters, and about 35 transshipment vessels were seen in West African waters in 2013 (3). Most of these were likely operating under flags of convenience (9), making accountability and transparency even more challenging. The second practice that enables illicit trade in seafood relates to how fish is transported for exports (3). It is estimated that about 84% of fish exported out of West Africa are transported in large refrigerated containers that are generally subjected to far less stringent reporting and inspection requirements (3). A third mechanism for illicit trade, in addition to the two channels mentioned above, is transport of illegally caught seafood into nearby local and regional markets to satisfy domestic demand in fisheries that are export-dominated. These three pathways are direct enablers of laundering illegal (10) as well as unreported or underreported catches into illicit trade. It is worth noting that transshipment is also a major enabler of labor abuses and modern slavery at sea (5, 11).

Many species of fish (collectively referring to exploited finfish and aquatic invertebrates), including both demersal and pelagic species (1213), are targeted by both foreign and domestic fishing vessels in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of sovereign countries, sometimes illegally. Such catches are often processed aboard large foreign industrial transshipment vessels and directly shipped overseas without unloading and processing in host countries, thereby depriving local economies of revenue, income, jobs, and economic impacts (14). The global activities of many industrial fishing fleets, including so-called IUU vessels, as well as the prevalence of transshipment vessels to circumvent landing and processing in host countries have been considered analogous to international organized crime (15). Thus, by not landing, reporting, and processing fish in the host country in whose waters the fish were caught, before exporting them, substantial economic and food and nutritional security losses are incurred by the communities and countries whose waters are being exploited (16).

Here, we estimate the potential economic costs of likely illicit trade in marine fish catch of the world by focusing on the potential losses to the legitimate trade system and associated economy due to such illicit trade, in terms of catches and gross revenues. In addition, and to provide a broader picture of the economic effects of illicit trade in marine fish catch, we compute the potential economic impacts, household income impacts, and tax revenue losses that result from such illicit activities.

We find that between 7.7 and 14.0 million metric tons of unreported fish catches are potentially traded illicitly each year (Table 1). We provide in table S1 the range of catch losses for each of the 143 countries included in our study. These numbers show that a substantial amount of seafood is likely illegally and illicitly taken out of the legitimate food supply system of many countries, affecting the food security and livelihoods of millions. These levels of catch volumes being traded illicitly suggest that gross revenues of between US$8.9 and US$17.2 billion per year are being redirected out of the legitimate market through illicit trade (Table 1). Table S1 presents the range of revenue losses for each of the 143 countries included in our study.

Estimated average annual catch and gross revenue losses to the legitimate (formal) international trading system due to likely illicit trade in marine fish catch over the past decade of total reconstructed catch data (20052014) for two scenarios of assumed fractions of unreported catches being redirected to illicit trade. Both scenarios assume that 50 to 80% of unreported industrial landed catches are being redirected to illicit trade, while the fractions of artisanal unreported landed catches range from 30 to 50% and 10 to 30% for scenarios 1 and 2, respectively.

Catch and gross revenue losses are not distributed equally across the various geographic regions. Rather, our analysis suggests that Asia, Africa, and South America suffer the biggest losses in catch due to likely illicit trade under both scenarios (Table 1). The unreported catches deemed to likely contribute to illicit trade from these three geographic regions, combined, account for around 85% of total catch losses to likely illicit trade globally (Table 1). The estimated losses to legitimate (formal) trade in gross revenue for these three geographic regions are between US$7.3 and US$14.0 billion per year, or around 82% of the global gross revenue loss to the legitimate trade system (Table 1). With regard to revenue losses to legitimate trade, however, European waters account for a higher likely loss compared to South America (Table 1), which may be due to the higher prices that are obtained for the species targeted in Europe, as South American fisheries are dominated by the high catch volume but low-price Peruvian anchoveta (Engraulis ringens).

The estimated average annual economic impact from the redirection of fisheries catches away from the legitimate (formal) trading system toward potential illicit trade (i.e., taking into account the economic multiplier for each country) suggests a potential economic impact of between US$25.5 and US$49.5 billion (Table 2). The average annual income impact, i.e., the seafood workers incomes that are likely associated with potential illicit trade in seafood, is estimated to be between US$6.8 and US$13.3 billion (Table 2). Last, the estimated potential losses to governments tax revenues, assuming that unreported catches and the associated illicit trade largely bypass the taxation system due to their unreported nature, amount to between US$2.2 and US$4.3 billion annually (Table 2). While some variation exists between the two scenarios modeled here for all three impact measures, the differences do not appear to be substantial (Table 2).

Average annual economic, income, and tax revenue impacts of likely illicit trade in seafood over the past decade of total reconstructed catch data (20052014) for two scenarios of assumed fractions of unreported catches being redirected to illicit trade. Both scenarios assume that 50 to 80% of unreported industrial landed catches are being redirected to illicit trade, while the fractions of artisanal unreported landed catches range from 30 to 50% and 10 to 30% for scenarios 1 and 2, respectively.

The effects of likely illicit trade in marine fisheries resources, in terms of economic and income impacts, are most pronounced in Africa and Asia (Table 2). Africa was estimated to experience between US$7.6 and US$13.9 billion and US$1.8 and US$3.3 billion losses annually in economic and income impacts, respectively, due to the redirection of catches from legitimate to illicit seafood trade (Table 2). A good proportion of this is due to unreported catches by large industrial fleets, most of which are foreign. Asia fairs even worse, with estimated economic and income impact losses of US$10.3 to US$20.3 billion and income impacts of US$2.7 to US$5.4 billion annually, representing 41% (the equivalent number for Africa is 28%) of overall global economic and income impacts of likely illicit seafood trade (Table 2). As to be expected, illicit seafood trade ultimately affects tax revenues for maritime African and Asian countries much more than other parts of the world, estimated to be US$0.83 to US$1.50 billion and US$0.81 to US$1.60 billion annually for these continents, respectively (Table 2). Combined, the potential tax revenue losses due to likely illicit trade in African and Asian marine resources account for 72 to 74% of global tax revenue losses due to illicit trade in seafood, amounting to between US$1.6 and US$3.1 billion annually.

Illicit trade, including in fish and seafood products, poses economic and social risks to societies worldwide, as it circumvents established and agreed upon national and international rules of corporate and business responsibilities and behavior, economic activities, trade, and taxation (17). In the first instance, illicit trade and the associated illicit financial flows divert money from the legitimate economy, thus imposing losses to law-abiding citizens and businesses and depriving countries of legitimate national revenues (18). This deprives countries of urgently needed resources to provide services to their citizens. Second, illicit trade in fish and seafood products can contribute to the depletion of a regions fish catch if the catches that enter illicit trade (here, a fraction of unreported catches) are not accounted for during the scientific evaluations or assessments of stocks and the affiliated fisheries management actions.

This study suggests that as much as 7.7 to 14.0 million metric tons per year of unreported catches may be diverted to illicit trade systems globally. To put this into a more general perspective, the potential loss to the legitimate trade system of global marine fisheries catches due to likely diversion into the illicit trade network is equivalent to losing 12 to 22 million mature cows in weight annually. This represents a substantial amount of animal protein that may be traded illicitly.

It has been argued earlier in the literature that the social impacts of illicit trade of marine fish catch in Asia are substantial, resulting in food and nutritional insecurity, loss of jobs, and loss of income to local fishers and economies (19). Our study provides more comprehensive estimates supporting these claims, revealing large catch, revenue, economic, and income losses to the formal economies and governments in Asia and elsewhere.

Furthermore, overfishing of stocks due to illegal and unreported fishing can also reduce the benefit flow to those fishers that fish legally and transparently (20), and this affects their societies and countries negatively. While not all unreported fishing is illegal, unreported as well as illegal catches are often unaccounted for in the formal fisheries stock assessments that inform fisheries management actions in many countries. Basing such assessments on incomplete and especially underreported catch volumes and fishing effort due to unreported and/or illegal fishing activities can result in incorrect estimates of total fishing mortality in affected fisheries. This can result in erroneous management advice and action, leading to overfishing and reductions in stock productivity, which, in turn, reduces the obtainable yields that can be maintained. This ultimately leads to losses in revenue and employment in the fishing sector. Given that our estimates of economic impact of illicit trade do not explicitly capture this effect, the current estimate of losses is likely to be conservative.

Our estimates of the fraction of unreported catches that may enter the illicit trade network were based on estimates of such numbers in forestry product trade (21). We relied on this information to guide our estimates because illicit forestry trade is better documented compared to fisheries (21). Given that seafood is more transportable and easier to hide than forestry products, it is possible that illicit seafood trade may attract even higher fractions of unreported catches than were used here. Thus, this adds to the likely conservative nature of our estimates.

We have demonstrated here that the global illicit trade in marine fish catch may lead to losses to society that can be measured in billions of dollars each year. Given the wide range of likely impacts on fish stocks, peoples livelihoods, jobs, and incomes, as well as the broader economic and government revenue impacts of illicit trade in seafood, tackling this issue is crucial and urgent. Just like other illegal and illicit trade activities (22), illicit trade in fish and seafood products makes a small number of operators and businesses rich, at the expense of the wider community and society. Substantially improved transparency and accountability, including whole-of-industry supply chain accountability, are urgently needed (Table 3). This transparency and accountability needs to run from net to plate and thus calls for improved accounting of fisheries catches and landings (17).

Suggested options to curb illegal fishing and the associated illicit trade in marine seafood.

In addition to value and supply chain accountability and transparency, urgently required and applied policy options include ratification and enforcement of various existing international agreements (23), addressing fish laundering via transshipment operations, granting fishing access permission only to vessels that are insured by marine insurance companies that exclude any IUU-listed vessel through transparent due diligence (24), and stepping up collaborative enforcement activities across all on-the-water activities between countries (Table 3) (2426). Only through full accountability and public transparency can we ensure not only that fish resources are sustainably and legally caught and traded but that the benefits of this economic activity accrue to the people and governments of each country where fisheries occur.

For our analysis, we used the globally reconstructed catch data of the Sea Around Us (12), freely available at http://www.seaaroundus.org, which complements the officially reported landings data reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on behalf of countries. These data provide comprehensive estimates of all unreported catches for all maritime countries from 1950 to 2014 (27). Reconstructed estimates of unreported catches are based on country-specific secondary data and information sources (i.e., peer-reviewed studies, grey literature reports, and local expert knowledge) that provide data in space and time on catches that are not included in official data records for various reasons, such as many small fishing vessels having little or no reporting requirements, or countries lacking financial or staff resources for monitoring and recording of catches. The data sources used in the reconstruction of catches were carefully vetted for reliability and then used to conservatively extrapolate, where necessary, to country-wide time series estimates of unreported catches. At the time of writing, more than 100 country reconstructions have been published in the peer-reviewed literature, with numerous more currently in the publication pipeline. The catch reconstruction approach, while initially misunderstood, e.g., (28) but see (29), is now well established and recognized as a useful approach to derive data that are complementary to official records (30, 31). While some details of earlier reconstructions were criticized (32), these concerns were addressed (33). Overall, the process and data sources used for reconstructing unreported catches are an open and ongoing process, and the Sea Around Us welcomes collaborations to continuously improve and refine these estimates.

Following Sumaila (34), we defined illicit trade in marine fisheries resources as trade that involves money, goods, or value gained from a portion of the unreported fishing of stocks by foreign and domestic industrial fishing fleets, and a fraction of unreported catches by artisanal fishing vessels that catch fish for commercial purposes. Thus, we equated a fraction of unreported fisheries activities with illicit trade and argued that not reporting on catches can, but not necessarily has to, equate to potential illicit trade activities. This differentiation is particularly important to note in the case of small-scale artisanal, subsistence, and indigenous fisheries, which often may be legal and legitimate but whose catches are variously not reported or underreported in official statistics (8, 12). Furthermore, we excluded unreported catches by the noncommercial sectors, i.e., subsistence and recreational fisheries. This is because subsistence fishing is defined as primarily for self, family, and community consumption or local barter and exchange, while recreational fishing is defined as primarily for pleasure, and thus, most of the subsistence and recreational catches are deemed to not enter the market or trade networks (27). In the case of the artisanal sector (defined as small scale and commercial), part of their catch, e.g., of highly valuable and often poorly monitored species such as tuna and sea cucumbers, are traded and sold in the international market, and therefore, some fraction of unreported catches of this sector can be assumed to potentially enter the illicit trade in marine resources.

We summarized average annual global landed catches and the associated landed value by reported and unreported components of the commercially focused artisanal and industrial sectors while combining the noncommercial subsistence and recreational sectors into a single noncommercial entry over the most recent decade with comprehensive data, i.e., 20052014 (Table 4). As indicated above, we excluded the noncommercial fisheries components (subsistence and recreational) from further economic analysis while recognizing that some catches from these sectors may still end up in trade networks. Note that we only used landed catch data and did not consider discarded catches. Discarding is a wasteful practice in terms of ecological impact on populations, habitats, and sustainability and carries substantial economic loss associated with it, in terms of forgone revenue options, as well as forgone protein benefits from discarded fish. We also excluded catches taken in the high seas, i.e., in waters beyond national jurisdiction, because they comprise less than 5 to 10% of total global catches (35), and the effects of illicit trade from these catches cannot easily be attributed to specific countries.

Reported and unreported landed catch and associated landed value by fishing sector for all maritime countries in the world, averaged over the 20052014 period. Discarded catches are excluded.

Furthermore, to remain conservative in our estimates, we assumed that only unreported catches may contribute to illicit trade. Although properly reported catches may end up entering the illicit trade system, we considered it more likely that much of the illicit trade originates from unreported catches, but recognized that this assumption requires further examination in the future. To remain even more conservative, we assumed that only 50 to 80% of unreported industrial catches contribute to illicit trade. Because of a lack of specific data on how much of the artisanal catch actually enters the international trade networks, and especially how much unreported artisanal catch may enter illicit trade, we proposed two scenarios regarding the fraction of unreported catch from the artisanal sector that may enter the illicit trade market. In scenario 1, we assumed that a range of 30 to 50% of unreported artisanal catch enters the illicit trade market, while in the more conservative scenario 2, we assumed a range of 10 to 30%.

We informed our assumptions of the percentage of unreported catches that may enter illicit trade networks on information from the forestry sector. The percentages we applied correspond to similar estimates for illegal logging in tropical countries. The numbers applied cover 50 to 90% of the volume of all forestry outputs in these countries (5), which is comparable to our 50 to 80% of unreported industrial catches. The lack of data for artisanal operations in both fisheries and logging is often due to lack of regulatory frameworks for the small-scale sector, and according to Hoare (36), this is a key factor in high levels of illegality in small-scale logging operations. Hoare (36) estimated that 10% of the total timber production in Cameroon in 2000 was small scale and illegal but that this had grown to 50% by 2012. Although this estimate is specific for Cameroon, Hoare (36) also found high levels of illegal small-scale production in Brazil, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana. Thus, we considered that our 10 to 30% and 30 to 50% ranges of unreported artisanal catches potentially entering the illicit trade could be considered conservative.

Economic losses. We used two measures to capture the basic direct economic losses to the legitimate (formal) economy of countries from likely illicit trade. The first is the quantity of unreported catches by industrial and artisanal fishing fleets, both domestic and foreign that is assumed to contribute to illicit trade. The second measure is the landed value of the fraction of unreported catch (i.e., the gross revenues) that is assumed to be traded illicitly.

The quantity of reported and unreported landed catches (Table 4; i.e., excluding discarded catch) is taken from the open-access Sea Around Us database (www.seaaroundus.org), which presents the data from a decade-long effort by ~400 international collaborators to complement officially reported catch statistics with the best and most comprehensive estimates of unreported catches of marine fish for every country in the world (12). We combined the assumed-illicit fraction of unreported landed catches (Table 4) with data from another decade-long effort by the Fisheries Economics Research Unit (https://feru.oceans.ubc.ca/) at the University of British Columbia and the Sea Around Us that compiled and estimated ex-vessel fish prices worldwide (3738) to calculate both the landed value of these catches and the loss of gross revenues to the formal economy of each country and geographic region (table S1).

Economic and income impact losses to the legitimate (formal) economy due to illicit seafood trade. To provide a broader picture of the likely loss to the formal economy due to illicit trade in marine resources, we computed three additional broad potential impacts: (i) economic, (ii) income, and (iii) tax revenue impacts as a result of illicit trade in fish catch as estimated here. Economic impacts capture the added value through the fish value chain generated from the revenues earned from fishing. This includes the impact on economic activities such as fish processing, boat building/maintenance, equipment supply, and the restaurant sector. To calculate this impact, we multiplied the estimated gross revenue losses (i.e., landed value of catch likely going to illicit trade) by the economic impact multiplier, which allowed us to capture the overall impact of likely illicit trade on the economy as a whole, for each coastal country reported by Dyck and Sumaila (39) (see table S1).

Income impact is a measure of the amount of household income that is generated through the fish value chain when a given quantity of fish is caught and sold in the market. We computed the income impacts of unreported fish catches likely entering the illicit trade system by multiplying the gross revenue losses (i.e., landed value of catch likely going to illicit trade) by the income multipliers of the fisheries sector, which measure the impact on household incomes, as reported by Dyck and Sumaila (39) see (table S1).

Tax revenue impacts of illicit trade in fishery resources are defined as the tax revenues that coastal country governments had to forego but could have earned if illicit trade in the marine resources did not exist, based on the fraction of their catches estimated to enter the illicit trade system. This was calculated by multiplying the corporate tax rate for each country [(40); see table S2] by the gross revenues from the fraction of unreported catches assumed to enter the illicit trade system estimated above. Where the individual countrys corporate tax rate was not available, a regional average corporate tax rate was used.

The equations below summarize how we computed the above three impact indicators of the economic effects of illicit trade in marine fish catchEconomic impact=R*m(1)Income impact=R*w(2)Tax revenue impact=R*t(3)where R, m, w, and t represent the gross revenue, economic multiplier, income multiplier, and the tax rate, respectively. R (gross revenue or landed value) is given in Table 1, m and w are presented in table S1 based on Dyck and Sumaila (39), and each countrys corporate tax rate, t, and the associated tax revenue loss for the country under scenarios 1 and 2 are presented in table S2. For clarity, we also presented all catch losses and revenue losses from our study and from previous estimates of illegal fishing by Agnew and colleagues (2), the Sea Around Us total landed catch (reported and unreported landings) and total landed value of commercial fisheries averaged over the same time period, and the FAO total landed catch averaged over 20052014 (table S3).

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.

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C. May, Transnational Crime in the Developing World (Global Financial Integrity, 2017).

T. N. P. Bondaroff, W. Van Der Werf, T. Reitano, The Illegal Fishing and Organized Crime Nexus: Illegal Fishing as Transnational Organized Crime (The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and The Black Fish, 2015).

V. Comolli, V. Felbab-Brown, C. Kavanagh, K. Lallerstedt, T. Reitano, Organized Crime and Illicit Trade: How to Respond to This Strategic Challenge in Old and New Domains (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

FAO, Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (FAO, 2016).

K. Rigg, R. Parmentier, D. Currie, Halting IUU Fishing: Enforcing international fisheries agreements, in Fish Piracy: Combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, K. Gray, F. Legg, E. Andrews-Chouicha, Eds. (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2004).

G. Hosch, Trade Measures to Combat IUU Fishing: Comparative Analysis of Unilateral and Multilateral Approaches (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, 2016).

J. Graziano da Silva, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (FAO, 2018).

A. Hoare, Tackling Illegal Logging and the Related Trade: What Progress and Where Next? (Chatham House, 2000).

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Illicit trade in marine fish catch and its effects on ecosystems and people worldwide - Science Advances

A Virginia class attack submarine is struggling to make it in the high seas, particularly in regards to her stealth coating.

The USS Colorado (SSN 788) was spotted with significant cracking along her hull, though she remained structurally sound and the damage appeared to only affect the Special Hull Treatment, an anechoic coating used to absorb sound waves.

To be fair, the USS Colorados recent deployment had it travel approximately 39,000 nautical miles during the deployment, meaning it more or less went the same distance one would travel if going around the world twice.

Also, it should also be noted that the Colorado was in harsher northern waters, which can take a toll on any vessel.

However, given the cost of the technology, associated costs of applying the coatings and the drag caused by uneven surfaces, the significant wear is anything but ideal.

According to Forbes, the US, British and Russian navies all struggle with the coating eventually coming off, particularly in colder waters, but the case of the Colorado is rather unique- the sub was on her first deployment.

The 15th Virginia-Class submarine and the fifth of the enhanced Block-III models, the Colorado was constructed by Huntington Ingalls Industries in partnership with the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics in Newport News, Virginia, with the initial contract awarded on 22 December 2008.

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US Navy submarine spotted with massive damage to its stealth coating - War Is Boring

After many false starts, India and the US appear confident of consolidating their defence ties, upgraded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump to what was described on Tuesday as a comprehensive global strategic partnership". The first of these four words is an addition to the relationships lexicon, the other three having been adopted after Modis parleys with Trumps predecessor Barack Obama in 2014 and 2015. While India-US cooperation is expected to cover a range of fieldsfrom the sharing of logistical facilities to vital informationthe pivotal part would be the access our forces get to some of the most feared military equipment on the planet", as Trump put it. New Delhi is reportedly scheduled to sign deals worth an estimated over $3 billion to buy 24 Lockheed Martins Sikorsky MH-60R Romeo" naval helicopters, called the Swiss Army knives of choppers" for their versatility, and six Boeing Inc.s AH64-E Apache attack helicopters. The former are meant for the Indian Navy, which needs to enhance its strike capability if it is to hold sway across the high seas of the Indian Ocean and further east.

The context of the joint India-US intent to keep the eastern hemisphere free and open for seafarers is the aggression displayed in recent years by China, which has sought to project power beyond its littoral as part of what analysts see as its Go" strategy of encircling adversaries. It has not gone unnoticed that Beijing is doubling down on its naval strength and, accordingly, India and the US have stepped up joint military exercises in seas far from the Indian coastline. The convergence of interests on this front is obvious. If Washington views the rise of Chinese might as a challenge to the global world order as set by the West, New Delhi needs to resist any threat posed by a northern neighbour whose sphere of influence looks set to widen in the years ahead. That Pakistan and China are all weather" allies adds urgency to that objective. Moreover, if this is inevitably to be an Asian century, given the economic trends of the times, then India must take on some of the responsibility to ensure it does not diminish the freedoms that were so hard won in the American century of the 1900s.

Even as India gets closer to the US in a common quest to counter Chinese domination of the Asian continent, if not yet the world, New Delhi has begun to reform the command structure of its armed forces to maximize operational efficiency in case hostilities break out. India now has a chief of defence staff to coordinate all three wings of the forces. A plan has been worked out for the creation of theatre commands, by which a single commander will direct all forces in a particular zone of war. An optimal way to mount military missions, however, increasingly involves making the most of data thats gathered, crunched and deployed in realtime, across multiple hardware platforms. Given the expansion of our security relations with the US, it seems likely that the Pentagon will share high-value data with our forces for joint operations. This will be an enabler, no doubt, to meet common goals. But none of this should be at the cost of Indias own security agenda, as determined by a government answerable to the countrys citizens. While strategic partnerships are welcome, what counts for most is strategic autonomy.

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Opinion | For an Asian century with an Indian stamp - Livemint

In the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt there are eight known witcher schools. These schools can be seen as factions, separated by different ideals, ambitions, and fighting styles. Though they were all created to train monster hunters some have taken on other pursuits.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: The Best Weapons, Ranked

If youre curious about which school youd fall into you could compare the basic profile of each school against your zodiac. While they arent all perfect fits, an example being a witcher who dislikes confrontation wouldnt be very good at why they exist, it does give some idea of where you might feel most at home.

The Order Of Witchers was the original school that all witchers were meant to be a part of. Witchers were intended to be noble knights capable of using magic to fight the monsters that threatened the lands of kings and queens.

Taurus would feel at home here given their reliable and responsible nature which would be mandatory to serving royalty. Libra could also thrive under situations that require diplomacy and graciousness while off on the kings errand. Both zodiacs make reliable and stable leaders that would have been necessary for the original school.

The School of the Wolf is considered the most successful of the schools that splintered off from the Order. Wolves pride themselves on being adaptable, equally capable with signs as they are swords and changing fighting styles to tackle single targets or multiple foes.

Aries would enjoy the challenge that comes with this school as theyd relish tackling a variety of monster types and would need to show courage in fights they may not be entirely equipped for. Scorpio is another that would do well here given their innate resourcefulness and ability to keep secrets, this discretion is handy when dealing with sensitive matters that Wolves are often employed to handle.

The School of the Viper is a unique one in that they exclusively train themselves to hunt the Wild Hunt. Whether this was the reason for their creation or came about after being formed is unknown. They employ stealth, speed, and twin blades to assassinate their foes using unpredictable and decisive maneuvers.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Wild Hunt

Geminis could don the hood of the Viper and do well. Fighting a great evil that threatens all would give them the purpose they crave and burying their heads in the scrolls and tomes regarding the Wild Hunt would be a pleasure and not a burden like it would those belonging to other zodiacs.

The School of the Cat was originally a collection of emotionless killers who through a quirk in their trials became hyper emotive people. They are frequently misunderstood and fiercely independent, living a nomadic life as part of the Dyn Marv caravan finding work where they can.

This fits the bill in many ways for those born to Aquarius. They struggle with their emotions and as a result enjoy independence. Being energetic and curious about the world would also make them suited for life on the road and taking on a variety of jobs.

The School of the Griffin is the closest thing to the original order that exists. They pride themselves on following a strict code of conduct and see themselves as unofficial knights. They heavily emphasize using magic and fighting multiple foes.

Leos would do well here given their inherent creativity and excitement to learn new things. They also function well as leaders and would enjoy the praise given to them for being members of this noble organization of monster hunters.

The School of the Bear is full of witchers who prefer to keep to themselves and do their work in peace. They are trained to fight larger monsters and rely upon defense and steadfastness to get the job done. It takes a tough person to tackle the evils that lurk in the cold wastes of Skellige.

Virgos with their all work and no play attitudes would perform well under these conditions. Their need for practicality and simple solutions is a good fit for the simple fighting style of the Bears. Capricorns and their serious, independent nature would also be a good fit and could make good leaders in this serious and reserved school.

Not much is known about the School of the Manticore. Geralt liked their gear, but even he didnt know much about them. Most of whats known is speculative based on their armor. The armor they wear is designed to hold multiple bombs, potions, and oils, it also grants a boost to alchemy which suggests members of this elusive group are master alchemists. Its possible they are so wrapped up in experiments related to alchemy and mutations in dark dusty corners that few are aware of their existence.

RELATED: The Witcher 3: 10 Most Useful Oils, Ranked (& How To Make Them)

Pisces might do well in this school of alchemists given their artistic and creative nature. It takes patience and creativity to concoct a variety of potions, oils, and bombs prior to each monster hunt. Its also possible that Manticores are responsible for the creation of various items that other witchers use every day to make the world safer and Pisces would enjoy being at the heart of that effort.

Finally, the School of the Crane is a group of witchers who have trained themselves to fight the monster of the air and sea. Not much is known about them, and its likely this is due to them being nomadic seafarers. In any case, they prioritize swords and early guns when in combat with the creatures of the open sky or the deep sea. They also arent known for wearing armor when they fight.

Cancer would relish the opportunity to make a living on the open water and would prefer a nontraditional life on the high seas to a cloistered existence on land. Sagittarius would also do well given their love of travel and being outdoors. Both have a clever imagination and out of the box thinking that would be needed to battle winged and finned foes.

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Which Witcher School Are You Based On Your Zodiac Type | TheGamer - TheGamer

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LOS ANGELESMove over, Broadways recently opened musical adaptation of the 1960s wife-swapping movie Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, which has nothing on Los Angeles Operas company premiere of Gaetano Donizettis opera Roberto Devereux about the 1600s kinky hi-jinks of Bob and Liz and Sara and Duke.

To be more specific, Im referring to the mnage--quatre (to coin a phrase?) between the titular character, Roberto Devereux (aka the Earl of Essex), Queen Elizabeth, Sara (the Duchess of Nottingham), and the Duke of Nottingham in Elizabethan England.

Donizettis tragedia lirica (lyric tragedy) with Salvadore Cammaranos libretto, first produced in 1837 in Naples, is loosely based on at least one play and a publication about actual historical personages. This is one of three Donizetti works depicting Englands House of Tudor, which include the Italian composers operas about Anne Boleyn (King Henry VIIIs doomed wife is alluded to in Roberto as she was Elizabeths mother) and Mary, Queen of Scots.

Film fans who have seen director Michael Curtizs 1939 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis as the not-so-Virgin Queen, and Errol Flynn as the Earl of Essex, will be familiar with some of Roberto Devereuxs plot points. In the Warner Bros. Technicolor epic Our Man Flynn puts the sex into Essex as he romances the much older Queen Elizabeth I. Privates musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of Hollywoods greatest movie score composers ever, was Oscar-nominated, and he later used part of the pictures composition in his Symphony in F-Sharp Major.

LA Operas season is rolling right along, despite conundrums that might cause serious setbacks to lesser opera houses. Not even the companys loss of Plcido Domingo as general director and performer (he had been scheduled to appear as the Duke in Roberto) has broken its stride or spirit. Domingos precipitous fall from grace is itself the stuff great opera is made of.

On Robertos opening night, LA Opera was faced with another crisis when one of its female leads was unable to take the stage. With that the-show-must-go-on! pizzazz, before the curtain lifted Feb. 22 on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage, LA OperaCEO Christopher Koelsch announced that due to Davinia Rodrguezs illness, which reportedly prevented her from playing Queen Elizabeth, soprano Angela Meade would replace her. Because of Ms. Meades late addition to the cast, as well as the extensive demands of the role, at the premiere ofRoberto Devereux Meade sang Elizabeth from the side of the stage while Nicola Bowie, the productions choreographer, acted the role in costume and makeup onstage, a practice which, according to LA Operas director of communications, shall continue throughout the shows run.

Antennas raised, I was curious how this unique arrangement would work out under the glare of the operatic medium, live. Would it look like kooky Kabuki theatre? While Ms. Bowie played the Virgin Queen center stage, Ms. Meade was visible singing on stage right standing in front of a music stand with the illuminated score. Instead of ruining the performance, this arguably enhanced the experience with a rather singular mise-en-scne. It called to mind the scenes depicting the introduction of synchronized sound to talkies in Singin in the Rain, as well as Deaf West Theatres use of sign language during plays and musicals (next month DWF is performing an iteration of Jean Cocteaus Orphe at the Odyssey Theater).

With Mexican tenor Ramn Vargas in the title role as the dashing, younger nobleman and soldier, Roberto Devereuxdramatizes his affair with Her Majesty, while hed clandestinely romanced Sara, the Duchess of Nottingham (mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon plays the part until March 5, fresh off her portrayal of Big Stone in LA Operas Eurydice, and Raehann Bryce-Davis assumes the role March 8-14). To further complicate the infidelities, Sara is married to Robertos best friend and loyal champion, the Duke of Nottingham (Quinn Kelsey in his LA Opera debut).

A traitors trial

To say that complications ensue is an understatement. Compounding all these entanglements, Roberto is charged with high treason due to his actions on the battlefield. Its worth mentioning the specifics of his trial, although it forms only the background to the opera and is not given deep attention in the libretto: The Queen had sent him to lead a military expedition to subdue Catholic Ireland, one of the British gentrys most lucrative colonies, but against her orders, Devereux signed a peace treaty with the Irish rebels. How different history might have turned out had this treaty held!

But Elizabethan England was at its imperial height and no one crossed the Queen lightly: The history students among us will recall that it was under Elizabeth that the British fleet defeated the feared Spanish Armada in 1588, with one victory turning the tide on the Spanish Empire, which never again could compete on an equal basis with the Brits. So Robertos betrayal took place on two levels: the personal/emotional, and the military/political.

Will the Earl of Essex end up with his head on a pike or will he escape the chopping block, at least until the final curtain?

Benot Dugardyns scenic design features a clever mock battle on the high seas between the two fleets to remind us of this critical piece of Elizabethan history. The optical opulence of his scenery evokes 16th-century London. He puts his architectural background to good use, creating a set reminiscent of Shakespeares Globe Theater (the Bard himself makes a cameo appearance onstage). The first and last scenes visually express Elizabeths angst, caused by having the institution of the monarchy thrust upon her. As Shakespeare observed in another meditation on monarchy, Henry IV: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crownand heavy is the heart that must bear it. Not to mention, of course, the multitude of subjects who must suffer under a royal class that inherits privilege and power to reign along with the megalomania and affluenza in the exercise of their rule.

For this production, LA Operas curtain looks like a gigantic picture frame, which is highly apropos, for along with spot-on makeup and wigs, German costume designer Ingeborg Bernerths apparel for Ms. Bowie as Her Majesty closely resembles contemporary paintings of Queen Elizabeth I. The royal raiment brings alive the court, as well as Parliament, of Elizabethan London, transporting us back in time and space, if only for three hours or so. But this production is such a magical time machine that H.G. Wells might well have envied it.

In addition to the unusual dual performance of the Mses. Meade/Bowie as Elizabeth, LA Opera audiences are treated to another rare event, as a female conductor, South Korean Eun Sun Kim, wields the baton, eliciting Donizettis sometimes soaring score from the LA Opera Orchestra (Louis Lohraseb conducts on March 14). In a nod to cultural authenticity, perhaps its on point to have an Englishman direct this production set in Britain, LA Opera veteran Stephen Lawless, who flawlessly oversees this brilliant production, notwithstanding the last-minute casting hiccup. The cast outstandingly sings and acts, with Kelseys Duke movingly emoting as not just a cuckold, but as someone who believes hes been betrayed by his bestie, whose head hed been trying to save in the corridors of Parliament.

Aside from Robertos musings on and depictions of its four main characters sexual peccadilloes, did Donizetti and Cammarano produce what we could recognize today as an anti-monarchical opera, critiquing the divine institution of monarchy itself and the authoritarian, one-person rule we see on exhibit? Perhaps thats a stretch, for both Classical and Romantic esthetics were generally not so much anti-monarchy per se, but rather demanded that monarchs rule justly.

Still, unfortunately, this theme remains as relevant today as it was when the story was set, in the 16th century, and when first produced in 1837. Today, as some political leaders act as if they are above the law, Roberto Devereux remains a cautionary tale.

For its stellar stagecraft and affecting bel canto lyricism, I do indeed heartily recommend that opera-goers see, hear and enjoy Roberto Devereux.

Roberto Devereux is performed Thurs., Feb. 27 and March 5, and Sat., March 14 at 7:30 p.m., and Sun., March 1 and 8 at 2:00 p.m., at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. For more info and tickets call (213) 972-8001 or go to the LA Opera website.

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A traitor's trial in 'Roberto Devereux': The unprivate lives of Elizabeth and Essex - People's World

Because they do not register their catches in the countries in whose waters they cast their nets, many industrial fishing fleets operate on a criminal basis. This statement is made by Rashid Sumaila and Daniel Pauly from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver together with colleagues in the renowned science journal Science Advances.

A total of about 7.7 to 14 million tons of fish are taken out of the sea without the knowledge of the responsible authorities, they estimate researchers. This amount adds to the roughly 90 million tons of legal and reported catches each year, says fishing expert Catherine Zucco from the WWF nature conservation organization in Hamburg.

Researchers in Canada base their estimates on a comparison to illegal timber harvesting, which is much better documented. Since catches at sea are easier to transport and hide than wood in the forest and the researchers estimated it very carefully anyway, the actual values could also be significantly higher, suggest Daniel Pauly and his colleagues.

The researchers estimate that a total of 8.9 to 17, 2 billion US dollars are earned from these illegal and unregistered catches. Affected states lose $ 2.2 to $ 4.3 billion in tax revenue annually. The countries of Africa alone lose between 7.6 and 13, US $ 9 billion in economic output each year, report Daniel Pauly and his colleagues. Much of it is caused by industrial fishing, which mostly comes from abroad.

For Asia the loss is even higher in the year: 10, 3 to 20, $ 3 billion. South America follows in third place with between one and 2.3 billion euros. Together, Asia, Africa and South America therefore record 85 percent of this worldwide loss due to illegal and unregistered catches.

But how does fishing work? Eyes of the authorities? In the European Union there is, for example, the landing requirement, according to which species that have been caught online and for which there are quotas must not be thrown back into the sea, but brought ashore and counted against the catch of the fisherman, explains Catherine Zucco.

This regulation is very important because fish that are too small and unwanted species are often caught. If the fisherman throws this bycatch back into the sea, the animals are often already dead or do not survive long. However, because this regulation is hardly monitored, many by-catches are still thrown overboard. Surveillance cameras on board and sensors on the networks could prevent such practices, explains Catherine Zucco.

Dolphins are also repeatedly removed from the nets and thrown back into the water. France's Atlantic coast is particularly affected. Dead dolphins are washed up here again and again. The Pelagis Observatory counted around 670 dead animals on the beaches until last weekend. That was more than in the same period last year, it said.

Last winter the number of dolphins washed up dead had reached record levels and caused dismay. This year, the coasts of the Bay of Biscay are the most affected in particular the departments of Vende and Brittany, according to the scientist Matthieu Authier from the University of La Rochelle, who also works for Pelagis.

Many the traces of fishing gear are visible, they are most likely bycatch by fishermen, according to Pelagis. The scientists are concerned that a large part of the animals killed are not washed up on land at all, but sink to the bottom of the sea so the number of dead dolphins is likely to be much larger. It is estimated that more than 11000 dolphins died off the coast of France in 2019 in the year.

Scientists and animal welfare organizations blame too tight a network of fishermen for the death of the dolphins. The animal rights activists of the Sea Shepherd organization accuse the fishing associations of a scandalous attitude that tarnishes the entire profession, as it says in a message.

These catches made outside the law are added to the legal ones. If catch quotas are set, the unregistered catches are missing and the fish stocks in the sea can be significantly overestimated. This increases the risk of a recession: the correct fishermen then catch less than hoped for, their profits shrink and unemployment threatens. Overall, a few enrich themselves at the expense of the general public, summarize Daniel Pauly and his colleagues this approach.

The WWF and other conservationists use satellite data, for example, to investigate these illegal activities evaluate the Automatic Identification System AIS. These mini-computers radio the name, size and position of the ship to better prevent collisions between ships. This data is also evaluated by a satellite fleet in space, which provides an overview of the activities of the ships at sea.

Since a ship travels completely differently when catching tuna than when catching cod or pegs with a trawl net, conservationists can, for example, deduce the type of catch. But we achieve a lot more transparency on the high seas, explains Catherine Zucco. (with dpa)

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Illegal on the net - Bandera County Courier

Most Orange County residents have undoubtedly never heard of the USS Mission Capistrano, a U.S. Navy tanker named for Mission San Juan Capistrano.

It served with distinction during three wars and played a major role in locating the wreckage of the USS Thresher, a U.S. nuclear submarine that sank in the early 1960s, resulting in the second worst-ever submarine disaster in terms of loss of life.

Delivering gasoline, diesel and oil to combat ships and carrier-based aircraft while underway on the high seas, the 524-foot Mission Capistrano has been mentioned in only a handful of naval publications and maritime technical journals. There are no histories or photos of the ship in the files in the Sherman Library in Corona Del Mar or Mission San Juan Capistranos Historical Society.

No newspaper or magazine articles have previously been written about the ship. Its as if the USS Mission Capistrano will always be a mere footnote in U.S. naval history.

Thats because tanker ships have never been considered as glamorous and exciting as aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and submarines, according to Thomas C. Pinard, a retired Southern California Navy captain and military historian who held positions on land and aboard ships based in Long Beach, San Diego, the Pacific and Atlantic.

But tankers, also called oilers and fuel replenishment ships, are rightfully considered the bloodlines of the Navy, Pinard said. They are analogous to the corner gas station. If your car is low on gas, you head to the nearest filling station. If theres no tanker ship available to supply fuel to combat ships, they cant leave their piers or theyll stop dead in the water.

Duty aboard a tanker can be dangerous.

There can be a fire or explosion during the transfer of fuel from a tanker to the receiving ship while steaming at sea, he said. Theres the possibility of injury or death to tanker crew members manning the heavy hoses transferring the fuel. Cables connecting the ships to one another during fueling operations can become fouled or break, also injuring the crew. Tanker sailors are the unsung heroes of the Navy.

During its lengthy career at sea, the Mission Capistrano was used as a U.S. Navy-commissioned ship or as a fleet auxiliary vessel operated by the Military Sealift Command and crewed by professional civilian mariners of the Merchant Marine.

The ship, which had a crew of 52, carried an arsenal of weapons including a .50mm cannon, machine guns and rockets. When crewed by merchant mariners, the tankers weapons were manned by special units of the Navy Armed Guard.

The USS Mission Capistrano, one of the Navys 21 mission tankers, was launched at the Marinships Corp shipyard in Sausalito, Calif., on May 7, 1944, and after sea trials was sent to the Pacific where it delivered fuel to U.S. ships until WWII ended. It then served during the Korean War and the first two years of the Vietnam War.

In 1960, at the height of the Cold War, the Mission Capistrano was detached from convoy duty off the coast of Vietnam and sent to the Todd Shipyard in New Orleans. It was converted into a seagoing Navy radio and sonar platform that would enable it to detect the movements and locations of submerged Soviet nuclear submarines. This was after the Pentagon learned the Soviet Union had built a submarine capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that could reach a large American city.

Constructed atop the Mission Capistranos main deck at the Todd facility was a 50-foot-high, 30-foot-wide 400-ton tower fitted with 1,440 transducers weighing 200 pounds apiece. When activated, the top-secret system named Project Artemis could locate submarines at great depths.

Following weeks of testing the bulky new equipment, the Mission Capistrano was rushed from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic to join a dozen other hastily-assembled Navy ships, searching not for a Soviet submarine but for the nuclear-powered U.S. Navy submarine USS Thresher that had sunk April 10, 1963 in 5,500 feet of water during a training mission approximately 200 miles east of Boston.

The Submarine Veterans Assn. established this memorial outside the main gate of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station to honor the 228 crewmen who lost their lives when their submarines, the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, sank in the Atlantic in the 1960s during routine exercises while submerged.

(David C. Henley)

Officials knew that all members the 129-man crew had likely been killed when radio communication with the Threshers captain abruptly ended and pieces of the Thresher began floating to the surface. It is the second highest-ever death toll for a submarine, after the French submarine Surcouf, and the highest for a nuclear submarine. President John F. Kennedy ordered that all flags be lowered to half-staff. The nation mourned.

Upon arrival at the estimated scene of the sinking, the USS Mission Capistrano, which had been named the operations command and control ship, was able, with its Project Artemis apparatus and the assistance of other research and rescue ships in the search flotilla, to pinpoint the Threshers wreckage that lay scattered in six massive debris fields.

Robert Ballard, the noted maritime archeologist who photographed the Thresher wreckage 21 years after the submarine sank, wrote in the introduction of Spencer Dunmores 2002 book Lost Subs: The Thresher looked as if it had literally been shredded... crushed by some giant, unseen hand.

Ballard, who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, added, You sensed that something terrible had happened to the Thresher, and that many had died there. All sailors face risks, have always faced risks. But none more so than submariners.

A Navy board of inquiry subsequently ruled the Thresher undoubtedly sank because of a welding or pipe failure that caused its engine room to flood.

As for the USS Mission Capistrano, it was refitted as a tanker and, in 1972, sold to a commercial firm that changed its name to Mission Exploration and converted it into a floating oil drilling rig. Eight years later, the ship made its final voyage, to a salvage yard in Brownsville, Texas, where, because of old age and obsolescence, it was torn asunder and turned into scrap.

In January 1977, the U.S. Submarine Veterans Assn. dedicated a memorial outside the main gate of the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station to honor the crews of the USS Thresher and another submarine, the USS Scorpion, which had sunk in the Atlantic during 1968 routine underwater training losing its 99-member crew. A Navy board ruled that the Scorpion went down because one of its torpedoes likely exploded inside the ship.

The memorial is open year-round to the public free of charge.

The California Legislature voted unanimously in 2000 to designate Pacific Coast Highway between Long Beach and Huntington Beach, a portion of which passes by the Seal Beach Weapons Station, as the Submarine Veterans of World War II Memorial Highway, and Caltrans signs noting this designation may be found along the route.

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Column: Giving the USS Mission Capistrano its proper due - Los Angeles Times