"With 2048 being predicted as the year of The Empty Ocean, marine conservation is the need of the hour," announces Siddharth Chakravarty from India, who has been at sea since 2001. The marine conservationist spent a decade in the merchant navy before signing up with Sea Shepherd Global in 2011. As part of the international non-profit marine wildlife conservation organisation, Chakravarty has gone after whale poachers in Antarctica, patrolled the fishing season in the Mediterranean Sea and assisted with sea inspections in the Pacific. Last year, he co-led Operation Icefish, a 110-day long campaign to pursue and shut down illegal fishing vessels in Antarctica. Ahead of his talk at the sixth edition of TEDxGateway, Chakravarty shares a glimpse of his adventures. Excerpts:

Q. What is Operation Icefish?
A. Operation Icefish was a campaign to specifically tackle six poaching vessels (dubbed as Bandit 6 by Sea Shepherd), fishing illegally for toothfish in Antarctica. Known in restaurants as Chilean Seabass, it is the world’s most expensive fish and its high value has attracted highly organised crime syndicates to poach the waters of the southern continent. Sea Shepherd Global sent two ships to fill an enforcement void in Antarctica; our role was to shut down the illegal fishing vessels, investigate and document their illegality and work with relevant international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol to shut the Bandit 6 down for good.