Tristan da Cunha MS Oliva Shipwreck

30th March 2011 Report from Tristan Director of Fisheries James Glass
Importance of Fishing
It is evident that the wreck of the Oliva has had a devastating effect on the wildlife, with the focus quite rightly being on the Rockhopper penguins, because they are of the most immediate concern, as can be seen by the numbers oiled. However, what is not so plain to see is the effect it will have on the lobster fishery, which is the mainstay of the island’s economy.
Essential Monitoring Programme
The Government have taken professional advice and a sampling programme has been put in place with the aim to gain a picture of the spatial extent and the level of any contamination in the target stock, with a view to managing the fishery so that (a) no contaminated stock gets into the supply chain and (b) the closure area is no larger in area or longer in duration than is necessary, so as to minimize interruption to normal fishing. Samples will be taken from Nightingale, Inaccessible and Tristan (to act as a benchmark) in areas that are representative of normal fishing grounds, with a wide enough spread that might show spatial or depth variation of any contamination.
The priority is to establish very quickly what effects the spill has had on the juvenile lobsters in the shallow kelp beds, how long it will take the area to return to normal, and whether there will be a recruitment effect in future years. It is expected that the owners/insurers will agree to fund a thorough study that will identify any impacts and monitor recovery that Tristan deems appropriate, for a minimum of five years, as the lobsters take at least six to seven years to reach market size.
Impact on closure of the fishery
When oil leaked from the Oliva, the fishery was closed at Nightingale and Inaccessible islands as a precaution pending expert advice. The Government has been advised that this was the right thing to do. This closure has already had an impact on the economy of the Island as there is an outstanding TAC (Total Allowable Catch) of 63mt still to be caught at these islands. There will be discussion with the insurers, the concession holders and advisers about this and the island will be doing all it can to seek compensation for this loss.
Wreck site's potential danger to fishing
The wreck's position on the western side of Nightingale has a particular impact on fishing. The western side of the island is the best fishing ground, and the wreck will obstruct access, so care will have to be taken when the wreck breaks up, as there may be a risk of tangling and loss of fishing gear.
Previous lessons must be learnt
When the semi-submersible oil platform PXXI (see PXXI page), was stranded at Tristan in 2006, the rig legs were coated with large quantities of dead coral, barnacles, oyster shells, hard corals, large mussels, large dark red anemones, and many many more species all of which were non-native to Tristan. The Brazilian porgy fish, which also came with the rig, is now completely around Tristan. No compensation was received to monitor alien species, and no sampling programme was put in place. James and his team are determined this will not happen again.

Adapted report from Tristan Director of Fisheries James Glass received Thursday 31st March
Extreme Fishing – where is Robson Green when you need him!
With an increasing number of Rockhopper Penguins in rehabilitation on Tristan to be fed and no imported fish, Tristan Islanders have to go and catch whitefish, mostly the Yellowtail and Five-finger. The last few days have seen strong winds and hailstorms (known locally as' hailswails') with a confused sea, but this has not deterred the keen fishermen from going to sea. On Tuesday 29 th March Cliff Swain caught a Long-fin Tuna when aboard the barge with fellow islanders Andrew Green, Grant Green, Mark Swain and Duncan Lavarello, and they also landed 16 Yellowtail. In another barge were Larry Swain, Gavin Green, Gary Repetto and Shaun Green who caught 10 Yellowtail and 110 Five-fingers, not bad for a few hours fishing, especially given how bad the weather was.

Each penguin needs approximately 200g of fish (raw meat weight) each, the crews from the boats catch and fillet the fish and then deliver the fillets to the Fisheries and Conservation office lab, where they are cut into chocolate size squares, from here they are taken by another team and up to 8 cubes of fresh fish are fed to each penguin. With over 3000 penguins to feed this means 600 kg of fish are needed daily - an extreme amount to be caught from lines on open boats when some days are inevitably lost as the swell closes Calshot Harbour. What a shame Robson Green can't help!

The tug Singapore departed Cape Town on Wednesday 30th March and is carrying 16 tonnes of pilchards to feed the penguins which will help supplement that caught locally, but unfortunately Robson isn't aboard!