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When the toothfish craze started in the 1990s, it was a free-for-all, and the population of these slow-growing fish, which can reach six feet in length, quickly plummeted. Eventually, the poaching was reduced to that carried out by what the Amsterdam-based Sea Shepherd calls the “Bandit Six,” vessels whose ownership has been traced to Spanish companies. The Thunder was one of these six.

Several times, these ships were found and even briefly impounded in ports around the world, but until now they were able to sell their valuable catch, pay small fines, and return to fishing.

Several times, these ships were found and even briefly impounded in ports around the world, but until now they were able to sell their valuable catch, pay small fines, and return to fishing

This year, the Sea Shepherd, better known for obstructing whale-fishing vessels, launched Operation Icefish (as the toothfish is also known) in an attempt to prove that the “Bandit 6” could be found and arrested by the Australian and New Zealand authorities if only they tried, according to Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd’s founder and chief, who has complained that neither country has prosecuted the toothfish poachers with much vigor.

The Sea Shepherd’s approach worked. The Sam Simon found two vessels, the Kunlun, now under arrest in Phuket, Thailand, and the Yongding, which has vanished. (Meanwhile, a third member of the six, the Viking, is being held in Malaysia following an Interpol request.) The Bob Barker found the Thunder and tailed it for 110 days. The pursuers hoped the Thunder would run out of fuel and food and would head into port, where the crew would be arrested. “We never expected they would sink their ship,” said Chakravarty.

As night fell over the tropical eastern Atlantic, the Sam Simon was steaming toward the port of Sao Tome off the coast of Gabon, where the crew — comprising 30 Indonesian members and 10 officers from Spain, Portugal, and Chile — were to be turned over to the authorities.

Christopher Pala is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., who often reports on ocean issues.