A photo can make a difference
Below is the official confirmation (as published in Cook Islands media) of the settlements between the Cook Islands, Tokelau and Japan over the illegal fishing by Koyu Maru 3 (which I documented fishing illegally from the Greenpeace Esperanza helicopter just before the end of 2009 on the Defending Our Pacific tour) and sister ship Koyu Maru 1 (which was demonstrated through VMS data to have also made incursions into EEZs to steal fish).
The images that i took of the Koyu Maru 3 fishing in Cook Islands waters allowed the Cook Islands to also take a case against her sister ship Koyu Maru 1 for illegal fishing, based on VMS data and further initiated the review of VMS data which showed the vessel(s) had been fishing illegally in Tokelau waters, meaning that a second country was able to seek compensation for tuna stolen from their waters. http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2009/December/12-25-07.htm
$1 million and $400,000 are no small sums for small Pacific Island states with very limited enforcement resources (the Cook Islands has only one patrol boat) - it is also considerably higher than previous settlement the Cook Islands has reached. This money will be going back into surveillance and enforcement programmes
All this from a set of photographs showing just one tuna being hauled onboard the Koyu Maru 3, and a hand-held GPS showing they were in the Cook Islands EEZ!! http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenpeaceusa_blog/2009/10/09/caught_red_handed_greenpeace_calls_for_a
Paul Hilton: Hong Kong Photographer