Cpt. Peter Hammarstedt

Director of Campaigns @ Sea Shepherd Global

Swedish-American Peter Hammarstedt is the Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd Global and is Chairman of Sea Shepherd Australia. He is captain of the ocean-going vessel Bob Barker, having spent two decades at-sea including 10 years in Antarctica.

In 2014/15, the Bob Barker, with Peter as captain, set the world record for the longest pursuit of a poaching vessel at sea after chasing the Interpol-wanted fishing vessel Thunder for 110 days, covering three oceans and 11,000 nautical miles, before its captain intentionally sank his own vessel in a bid to destroy evidence. Since then, Peter, has provided civilian offshore patrol vessels (COPVs), under so-called ‘ship rider’ agreements, to many African coastal countries in order to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

On-going partnerships between Sea Shepherd and the law enforcement agents of African coastal and island States have resulted in the arrest of over 70 vessels for illegal fishing and other fisheries crimes over the past five years. The COPVs have served as critical platforms for capacity-building of law enforcement agencies in increasing monitoring, control and surveillance capabilities in the maritime domain.