Saturday, December 19, 2020

ITALY

Pirate hunters of the Po: how locals sick of poachers decided to fight back

As night falls in Italy’s largest delta, volunteers board tiny boats to track down the elusive fish mafia plundering the waters

 Volunteers remove an illegal trap from the Po delta. Photograph: Marta Clinco

During the day Denny Covezzi works in a fishing equipment shop and Andrea Mocchi at at a factory. But at sunset they don heavy grey uniforms and set out on their small boat to patrol the river.

They’re looking for anything suspicious: nets, traps, perhaps a van parked by the bank. They hear a rumble in the bushes, and Covezzi moves the boat closer to check: nothing. “It must have been an animal,” he says. Later, they notice something in the river – small homemade traps made of wire and plastic bottles. They haul the traps into the boat and break them apart.

The pirate hunters, as they are known in the local media, are looking for poachers on the delta of the Po River in Italy. Emptying into the Adriatic Sea, the brackish Po has one of Europe’s largest deltas, but until recently it has been plagued by poachers.

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 Denny Covezzi on an anti-poaching patrol. Photograph: Marta Clinco

That’s starting to change. In the past three years, the efforts of volunteers such as Covezzi and Mocchi to cut nets and help identify criminals have prompted a series of investigations into poachers by Italy’s Carabinieri and Forest Service, and the authorities in Romania, Spain, France and the UK. The result has been a reduction in poacher numbers by about a third since the height of their activity between 2013 and 2016.

Denny Covezzi and Andrea Mocchi
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 Denny Covezzi and Andrea Mocchi are pleased that organised crime on the delta seems to be on the retreat, but say it’s too early to celebrate. Photograph: Marta Clinco

The success is particularly impressive given how profitable an activity poaching had become here. Illegal fishing has a long history in the area, but until the 1960s it was largely done by poor families who lived off eels. In recent years, however, organised criminal groups ramped it up to an industrial level, using intimidation and a network of lookouts. “They can fish as much as 20,000kg (20 tonnes) in a single night,” says the coordinator of the volunteer group, Alessandro Pagliarin.

Police have struggled to monitor the delta, which covers 1,400 sq km, leaving the poachers free to roam. At its peak, the poaching was worth as much as €5m (£4.6m) a year, with about 200 people involved. “Can you imagine a regular firm having so much profit with such low investment?” says Stefano Testa, of the Carabinieri’s anti-poaching unit.

Although Italians consume relatively little freshwater fish, the poachers sell the carp, catfish and sheatfish (which can reach more than two metres in length) to eastern Europe, where demand is high. Testa says the gangs are organised in a pyramid structure, with area managers overseeing labourers, and “intermediaries between area managers that fish in Italy and distributors in eastern Europe”. According to Testa, many of the poachers hail from the Danube delta in Romania, where they used to fish illegally until Romanian authorities cracked down in the early 2010s. “The Po delta is similar to the Danube delta, so they can use the same techniques,” says Testa.

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 Denny Covezzi and Andrea Mocchi check fishing licences. Photograph: Marta Clinco
Fish killed illegally and confiscated by authorities in February 2019.
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 Fish killed illegally and confiscated by authorities in February 2019. Photograph: Michele Valeriani

Those techniques include using electro-stunners made from car batteries or dumping chemicals into the water, before using trawling nets to collect the fish, with devastating effect on the ecosystem. There are also concerns for those who eat the fish. “The fish from the Po River can be highly polluted, it’s not supposed to be eaten,” says Michele Valeriani of Gruppo Siluro, an association of local recreational fishermen raising awareness on environmental issues.

It was recreational fishermen who were the first to notice, about a decade ago, that something shady was going on in the area. “All of a sudden we were finding dozens of dead fish along the canal locks,” Valeriani says. “It’s unlikely that 50 fish naturally die at the same moment.” They suspected poaching, and soon the patrols were formed.

There were early successes. “At the beginning, poachers were active also during the day, because there were no controls,” says Covezzi. “But now we forced them to act at night.” The volunteers have also confiscated nets and set thousands of fish free.

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 A fisherman shows off one of the delta’s catfish. Photograph: Marta Clinco

Back on the boat with Covezzi and Mocchi, they come across a tent and ask the fisherman to show them his licence. He’s no poacher: it’s not uncommon for recreational fishermen to spend the night on the delta’s shore, and the law requires them to set their catch free.

Mocchi, who is married with children, says the nightly patrols are taking a toll on his family life. Covezzi, on the other hand, says his girlfriend is encouraging him. “She often insists on coming along.”

They are pleased that organised crime on the delta seems to be on the retreat, but it’s too early to celebrate. “Recent history taught us that these groups retreat when they feel under scrutiny, only to re-emerge when we lower our guard,” says Pagliarin. “Our job is to keep patrolling. We are the eyes on the delta.”

NLRB says Amazon illegally fired a warehouse worker protesting safety conditions in March
Mary Meisenzahl
Dec 17, 2020
Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

The NLRB found merit in a claim that Amazon retaliated against an employee who protested safety conditions, the agency told Business Insider.

Gerald Bryson led a protest in April over working conditions.

At the time, Amazon said Bryson was fired for bullying other employees.

An investigation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found merit in the case that Amazon illegally fired a warehouse worker for organizing other employees around COVID-19 safety concerns, the agency confirmed to Business Insider on Thursday.

The worker, Gerald Bryson, worked at a Staten Island Amazon fulfillment center, where he was part of a protest in March about Amazon's health and safety policies amid the pandemic, led by assistant manager Chris Smalls after a coworker tested positive for the virus.

The news was first reported by Vice's Motherboard on Thursday.

This finding doesn't mark the end of the case. Amazon can settle with Bryson, or the NLRB will move forward with bringing a case against the company.

"We look forward to sharing the facts on this case before an administrative law judge should the NLRB issue a complaint," Lisa Levandowski, an Amazon spokesperson, told Business Insider in a statement.

Smalls said Amazon fired him in retaliation, and Amazon told Business Insider that Smalls was fired violating social distancing
THEY BOTH NEED TO BE UNIONIZED
Amazon slams Walmart for not paying workers $15 per hour, following new criticism of the e-commerce giant's treatment of workers

Allana Akhtar
Dec 18, 2020, 12:55 PM



A Walmart personal shopper. Walmart

Amazon took a dig at Walmart's worker pay in a recent Bloomberg article, saying the nation's biggest retailer has yet to join them in "raising the minimum wage to $15."

In analysis of 68 counties where Amazon opened a warehouse, average industry compensation dropped by 6% within two years, Bloomberg reported.

Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2018.

Walmart raised its minimum hourly wage to $11 from $9 in 2018 and previously said the full-time hourly workers averaged $14.26 an hour

Amazon took a dig at Walmart's worker pay in a recent Bloomberg article.

In analysis of 68 counties where Amazon opened warehouses, average industry compensation dropped by 6% within two years, Bloomberg reported. Average wages increased five years after Amazon arrived in the areas.

In response to the article, Amazon questioned why the report did not explore wages at Walmart, the US's largest retailer.

"Hiring more, by paying less, simply does not work. Many of our employees join Amazon from other jobs in retail which tend to be predominantly part-time, reduced benefit jobs with substantially less than our $15 minimum wage," Amazon said in a statement to Bloomberg. "These employees see a big increase in pay per hour, total take-home pay, and overall benefits versus their previous jobs. What surprises us is that we are the focus of a story like this when some of the country's largest employers, including the largest retailer, have yet to join us in raising the minimum wage to $15."


Read more: Amazon is quietly building a business to offer medical care to major companies. Here's an inside look at Amazon Care.

Walmart and Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.

Competition between the two retail giants has increased in recent years as they compete for workers. Amazon raised its minimum wages to $15 an hour in 2018 after criticism from labor advocates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders. Walmart raised its minimum hourly wage to $11 from $9 in 2018 but said full-time hourly workers averaged $14.26 an hour.

"We think better than focusing only on what's that lowest starting wage, it's better to talk about ... What's the average wage?" Kathleen McLaughlin, Walmart's chief sustainability officer, told Business Insider in 2019.

Amazon tripled profits to $6.33 billion this year as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted an e-commerce boom. CEO Jeff Bezos added more than $70 billion to his net worth, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies.

The company in March increased pay for warehouse workers by $2 an hour as hazard pay. Amazon ended the benefit in June and has not reinstated hazard pay, despite COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations reaching a record high this winter.

Hilcorp's Harvest Alaska unit completes BP Alaska acquisition

(Reuters) - Privately held Hilcorp Energy Co said on Friday its unit completed a $5.6 billion acquisition of BP Plc’s business in Alaska, taking over the region the British oil major had operated in for 60 years.

Hilcorp’s Harvest Alaska, a midstream services provider, said it received approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Dec. 14 to acquire BP’s nearly 49% interest in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and 49% of Alyeska Service Company and other Alaska midstream interests.

The 800-mile TAPS is one of the largest pipelines in the world and transports oil from the North Slope to the northern most ice-free port in Valdez, Alaska.

Last year, BP agreed to sell all its Alaskan properties, including interests in the most prolific oil field in U.S. history at Prudhoe Bay, and the Trans Alaska Pipeline, to Hilcorp Energy.

Oil majors including BP have reduced their production roles in the northernmost U.S. state as output slid and lower-cost fields emerged elsewhere. Hilcorp, known for buying up oil castoffs, acquired half of another BP Alaska project in 2014.


Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
Germany: Tesla, conservationists each score partial win over new factory

Construction at Tesla's new factory, after being blocked twice, has been allowed to proceed with certain restrictions. Conservation groups had expressed concerns over the well-being of hibernating reptiles.


Tesla said the land is needed for pipelines and storage

A German court on Friday ruled that Tesla could not cut down trees in certain sections of a forest near Berlin where it had planned to build a manufacturing site.

The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court banned Tesla from clearing the peripheral areas of the site, upholding an emergency appeal by environmental groups.

However, the court added that a stoppage in the rest of the area was unjustified.

The order means that Elon Musk's company can proceed, albeit with restrictions, to start the construction of its planned "Gigafactory" in Grünheide, south of Berlin.

Construction for the carmaker's site had been blocked for the second time last week after briefly getting the green light from a lower court to continue clearing the forest.

The state of Brandenburg gave its initial approval on November 30.

Tesla received a permit to clear 83 hectares (205 acres) of forest that comes on top of the 92 hectares already cleared during preparation work for the site.

Watch video Tesla comes to Germany


Tesla said the land is needed for pipelines and storage for what will be the US carmaker's first European plant.













Threat to protected species

Conservation groups Grüne Liga (Green League) and Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) opposed the planned construction, arguing that logging could endanger hibernating reptiles.

The case specifically focused on the well-being of the local smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) and the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), both of which are protected species.

Tesla carried out measures to relocate the species earlier this year, but the environmentalists say the efforts did not go far enough.



Residents of Grünheide worry that Tesla's new factory will worsen the water shortages haunting the region.

The groups argued that clearing the forest could kill sleeping snakes and lizards who were left behind — putting Tesla in violation of Germany's Federal Nature Conservation Act, which bars killing "strictly protected species."

The court agreed and thus prohibited logging in certain areas of the site where the reptiles could be harmed.

















Residents of the town of Grünheide have also raised concerns that the factory could further aggravate water concerns.

Tesla plans to manufacture around 500,000 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles at its new site every year and hire more than 10,000 workers. Operations are scheduled to begin in July 2021, despite a series of delays in courts.

adi/sms (Reuters, dpa)