Sea Shepherd’s East Timor Campaign

With public calls from people in East Timor claiming they have no way of knowing what the fleet are up to out of sight of land, Sea Shepherd decided to send the Ocean Warrior on a reconnaissance mission to gather and document evidence. This evidence was handed over to the authorities and people of East Timor in hopes that they may be able to cancel future licenses that are being seriously abused.

During the September 9th inspections, an entire catalogue of images and documentation has been formed and shared with PNTL and other authorities. Campaign Leader and Sea Shepherd Global’s Director for Asia, Gary Stokes, also met today with East Timor’s former Prime Minister/President and Noble Peace Winner, Dr. José Ramos-Horta: “Unscrupulous foreign commercial fishing activities must be stopped in Timor Leste,” said Dr. Ramos-Horta. “We must protect our natural resources, it is an outrage.”

At this moment, the Ocean Warrior is currently monitoring the fleet that are now at anchor near Vemasse on the north coast awaiting refueling. Sea Shepherd fears that the fleet will be allowed to escape again due to high-level deals being struck to release them by corrupt officials. “Sadly the good work of the PNTL and Sea Shepherd will be in vain and these poachers will dodge justice once more,” says Gary Stokes.