This week, the crew aboard the Rainbow Warrior pulled off one thing unbelievable.
Within the excessive seas round Australia and Aotearoa, Greenpeace Australia Pacific disrupted a large industrial longlining operation. Over the course of a number of hours, our group confiscated nearly 20 kilometres of lethal longline fishing gear out of the water and freed 9 sharks, together with an endangered longfin mako.
We’ve been out right here documenting industrial longliners for weeks, however this vessel was next-level harmful.

What we discovered on the road
Longlining is an indiscriminate fishing technique that may kill any animal in its path. As we hauled the road out of the water, we had been confronted with animals tangled and combating for his or her life.
The professional Greenpeace group, together with an skilled shark handler, freed:
- One endangered longfin mako shark
- Eight near-threatened blue sharks
- 4 swordfish
- One Ray
Our boat crew labored rapidly to chop them free and safely launch them, permitting the animals to swim away with a second likelihood at life. It was devastating to think about all of the marine life on lengthy line hooks the world over that we couldn’t save.
The road itself got here from an EU-flagged industrial fishing vessel we’d been monitoring. The person vessel we focused caught over 600,000kg of shark in 2023, that’s an estimated 5527 sharks in a single 12 months alone. These ships declare to be concentrating on tuna and swordfish, however hook after hook, we noticed sharks — some critically endangered — hauled up, lifeless or dying.
Actually, throughout simply half an hour of statement, we documented three endangered Mako sharks being dragged out of the water and onto their boat to be killed.
Why this motion mattered
Longlining is likely one of the most harmful fishing strategies on the planet. Vessels deploy strains as much as 100 km lengthy with 1000’s of hooks that catch and kill indiscriminately, together with sharks, turtles, seabirds and rays. It’s the industrialisation and destruction of the ocean.
New evaluation from our group revealed that in 2023 alone, practically 70% of the catch from EU longliners in elements of the Pacific was blue sharks — probably the most fished shark worldwide, now being worn out in report numbers.
Our motion this week didn’t simply save the sharks we freed. It despatched a message to the commercial fishing fleets plundering these waters: the world is watching.
What occurs subsequent
This all comes as world leaders head to the UN Ocean Convention in France subsequent week to speak about the way forward for our oceans. The timing couldn’t be extra vital.
Greenpeace is demanding that governments, together with Australia, ratify the International Ocean Treaty and decide to the purpose of defending 30% of the ocean by 2030. It’s time for the Australian authorities to step up and suggest world-first marine sanctuaries in locations just like the Tasman Sea, so operations like this could’t proceed in secret.
The Treaty, as soon as put into drive, will permit the creation of huge protected areas the place industrial longliners can’t attain and provides the ocean a combating likelihood.

Greenpeace has been defending the oceans for 50 years — and we’re not stopping now
For greater than half a century, Greenpeace ships just like the Rainbow Warrior and now our very personal Oceania have been on the frontlines of stopping industrial destruction and defending our world. We’ve been boarded, bombed and impounded, however we’ve by no means backed down.
Because the group now sails on to greet our colleagues in Aotearoa and commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the battle for our planet is way from over. It’s by no means been extra vital for us to rise collectively, take collective motion, and defend the ocean that sustains us all.
This week’s motion is simply the most recent chapter within the Greenpeace story.
This week, the crew aboard the Rainbow Warrior pulled off one thing unbelievable.
Within the excessive seas round Australia and Aotearoa, Greenpeace Australia Pacific disrupted a large industrial longlining operation. Over the course of a number of hours, our group confiscated nearly 20 kilometres of lethal longline fishing gear out of the water and freed 9 sharks, together with an endangered longfin mako.
We’ve been out right here documenting industrial longliners for weeks, however this vessel was next-level harmful.

What we discovered on the road
Longlining is an indiscriminate fishing technique that may kill any animal in its path. As we hauled the road out of the water, we had been confronted with animals tangled and combating for his or her life.
The professional Greenpeace group, together with an skilled shark handler, freed:
- One endangered longfin mako shark
- Eight near-threatened blue sharks
- 4 swordfish
- One Ray
Our boat crew labored rapidly to chop them free and safely launch them, permitting the animals to swim away with a second likelihood at life. It was devastating to think about all of the marine life on lengthy line hooks the world over that we couldn’t save.
The road itself got here from an EU-flagged industrial fishing vessel we’d been monitoring. The person vessel we focused caught over 600,000kg of shark in 2023, that’s an estimated 5527 sharks in a single 12 months alone. These ships declare to be concentrating on tuna and swordfish, however hook after hook, we noticed sharks — some critically endangered — hauled up, lifeless or dying.
Actually, throughout simply half an hour of statement, we documented three endangered Mako sharks being dragged out of the water and onto their boat to be killed.
Why this motion mattered
Longlining is likely one of the most harmful fishing strategies on the planet. Vessels deploy strains as much as 100 km lengthy with 1000’s of hooks that catch and kill indiscriminately, together with sharks, turtles, seabirds and rays. It’s the industrialisation and destruction of the ocean.
New evaluation from our group revealed that in 2023 alone, practically 70% of the catch from EU longliners in elements of the Pacific was blue sharks — probably the most fished shark worldwide, now being worn out in report numbers.
Our motion this week didn’t simply save the sharks we freed. It despatched a message to the commercial fishing fleets plundering these waters: the world is watching.
What occurs subsequent
This all comes as world leaders head to the UN Ocean Convention in France subsequent week to speak about the way forward for our oceans. The timing couldn’t be extra vital.
Greenpeace is demanding that governments, together with Australia, ratify the International Ocean Treaty and decide to the purpose of defending 30% of the ocean by 2030. It’s time for the Australian authorities to step up and suggest world-first marine sanctuaries in locations just like the Tasman Sea, so operations like this could’t proceed in secret.
The Treaty, as soon as put into drive, will permit the creation of huge protected areas the place industrial longliners can’t attain and provides the ocean a combating likelihood.

Greenpeace has been defending the oceans for 50 years — and we’re not stopping now
For greater than half a century, Greenpeace ships just like the Rainbow Warrior and now our very personal Oceania have been on the frontlines of stopping industrial destruction and defending our world. We’ve been boarded, bombed and impounded, however we’ve by no means backed down.
Because the group now sails on to greet our colleagues in Aotearoa and commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the battle for our planet is way from over. It’s by no means been extra vital for us to rise collectively, take collective motion, and defend the ocean that sustains us all.
This week’s motion is simply the most recent chapter within the Greenpeace story.
This week, the crew aboard the Rainbow Warrior pulled off one thing unbelievable.
Within the excessive seas round Australia and Aotearoa, Greenpeace Australia Pacific disrupted a large industrial longlining operation. Over the course of a number of hours, our group confiscated nearly 20 kilometres of lethal longline fishing gear out of the water and freed 9 sharks, together with an endangered longfin mako.
We’ve been out right here documenting industrial longliners for weeks, however this vessel was next-level harmful.

What we discovered on the road
Longlining is an indiscriminate fishing technique that may kill any animal in its path. As we hauled the road out of the water, we had been confronted with animals tangled and combating for his or her life.
The professional Greenpeace group, together with an skilled shark handler, freed:
- One endangered longfin mako shark
- Eight near-threatened blue sharks
- 4 swordfish
- One Ray
Our boat crew labored rapidly to chop them free and safely launch them, permitting the animals to swim away with a second likelihood at life. It was devastating to think about all of the marine life on lengthy line hooks the world over that we couldn’t save.
The road itself got here from an EU-flagged industrial fishing vessel we’d been monitoring. The person vessel we focused caught over 600,000kg of shark in 2023, that’s an estimated 5527 sharks in a single 12 months alone. These ships declare to be concentrating on tuna and swordfish, however hook after hook, we noticed sharks — some critically endangered — hauled up, lifeless or dying.
Actually, throughout simply half an hour of statement, we documented three endangered Mako sharks being dragged out of the water and onto their boat to be killed.
Why this motion mattered
Longlining is likely one of the most harmful fishing strategies on the planet. Vessels deploy strains as much as 100 km lengthy with 1000’s of hooks that catch and kill indiscriminately, together with sharks, turtles, seabirds and rays. It’s the industrialisation and destruction of the ocean.
New evaluation from our group revealed that in 2023 alone, practically 70% of the catch from EU longliners in elements of the Pacific was blue sharks — probably the most fished shark worldwide, now being worn out in report numbers.
Our motion this week didn’t simply save the sharks we freed. It despatched a message to the commercial fishing fleets plundering these waters: the world is watching.
What occurs subsequent
This all comes as world leaders head to the UN Ocean Convention in France subsequent week to speak about the way forward for our oceans. The timing couldn’t be extra vital.
Greenpeace is demanding that governments, together with Australia, ratify the International Ocean Treaty and decide to the purpose of defending 30% of the ocean by 2030. It’s time for the Australian authorities to step up and suggest world-first marine sanctuaries in locations just like the Tasman Sea, so operations like this could’t proceed in secret.
The Treaty, as soon as put into drive, will permit the creation of huge protected areas the place industrial longliners can’t attain and provides the ocean a combating likelihood.

Greenpeace has been defending the oceans for 50 years — and we’re not stopping now
For greater than half a century, Greenpeace ships just like the Rainbow Warrior and now our very personal Oceania have been on the frontlines of stopping industrial destruction and defending our world. We’ve been boarded, bombed and impounded, however we’ve by no means backed down.
Because the group now sails on to greet our colleagues in Aotearoa and commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the battle for our planet is way from over. It’s by no means been extra vital for us to rise collectively, take collective motion, and defend the ocean that sustains us all.
This week’s motion is simply the most recent chapter within the Greenpeace story.
This week, the crew aboard the Rainbow Warrior pulled off one thing unbelievable.
Within the excessive seas round Australia and Aotearoa, Greenpeace Australia Pacific disrupted a large industrial longlining operation. Over the course of a number of hours, our group confiscated nearly 20 kilometres of lethal longline fishing gear out of the water and freed 9 sharks, together with an endangered longfin mako.
We’ve been out right here documenting industrial longliners for weeks, however this vessel was next-level harmful.

What we discovered on the road
Longlining is an indiscriminate fishing technique that may kill any animal in its path. As we hauled the road out of the water, we had been confronted with animals tangled and combating for his or her life.
The professional Greenpeace group, together with an skilled shark handler, freed:
- One endangered longfin mako shark
- Eight near-threatened blue sharks
- 4 swordfish
- One Ray
Our boat crew labored rapidly to chop them free and safely launch them, permitting the animals to swim away with a second likelihood at life. It was devastating to think about all of the marine life on lengthy line hooks the world over that we couldn’t save.
The road itself got here from an EU-flagged industrial fishing vessel we’d been monitoring. The person vessel we focused caught over 600,000kg of shark in 2023, that’s an estimated 5527 sharks in a single 12 months alone. These ships declare to be concentrating on tuna and swordfish, however hook after hook, we noticed sharks — some critically endangered — hauled up, lifeless or dying.
Actually, throughout simply half an hour of statement, we documented three endangered Mako sharks being dragged out of the water and onto their boat to be killed.
Why this motion mattered
Longlining is likely one of the most harmful fishing strategies on the planet. Vessels deploy strains as much as 100 km lengthy with 1000’s of hooks that catch and kill indiscriminately, together with sharks, turtles, seabirds and rays. It’s the industrialisation and destruction of the ocean.
New evaluation from our group revealed that in 2023 alone, practically 70% of the catch from EU longliners in elements of the Pacific was blue sharks — probably the most fished shark worldwide, now being worn out in report numbers.
Our motion this week didn’t simply save the sharks we freed. It despatched a message to the commercial fishing fleets plundering these waters: the world is watching.
What occurs subsequent
This all comes as world leaders head to the UN Ocean Convention in France subsequent week to speak about the way forward for our oceans. The timing couldn’t be extra vital.
Greenpeace is demanding that governments, together with Australia, ratify the International Ocean Treaty and decide to the purpose of defending 30% of the ocean by 2030. It’s time for the Australian authorities to step up and suggest world-first marine sanctuaries in locations just like the Tasman Sea, so operations like this could’t proceed in secret.
The Treaty, as soon as put into drive, will permit the creation of huge protected areas the place industrial longliners can’t attain and provides the ocean a combating likelihood.

Greenpeace has been defending the oceans for 50 years — and we’re not stopping now
For greater than half a century, Greenpeace ships just like the Rainbow Warrior and now our very personal Oceania have been on the frontlines of stopping industrial destruction and defending our world. We’ve been boarded, bombed and impounded, however we’ve by no means backed down.
Because the group now sails on to greet our colleagues in Aotearoa and commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the battle for our planet is way from over. It’s by no means been extra vital for us to rise collectively, take collective motion, and defend the ocean that sustains us all.
This week’s motion is simply the most recent chapter within the Greenpeace story.