Pirates Attack Fishing Boats

Shiver me timbers, we've entered the crazy times. Pirates are totally making a comeback. They're more in fashion this fall than cashmere sweaters and plain-front trousers.

It's been 200 years since they've been a force at sea, but lately no one is safe, from super tankers to fishing boats. The map on the right is from the International Chamber of Commerce's Crime Service web page and it's constantly streaming in real time to bring you the latest pirate information.

No joke, there's a website dedicated to tracking pirate attacks around the globe. And courtesy of Google's nifty little pointers you can get the exact GPS coordinates of each sea invasion.

The stories making the big news include the Sirius Star, an oil tanker loaded with a cool $100 million in crude. But, for us anglers there's a bit more worrisome news. Several fishing vessels, both commercial and private have been boarded by Blackbeard wannabes. And though this just seems absurd to type, be careful if you're fishing the east coast of Africa near Madagascar or around the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Silly as it seems, these are prime fishing spots for big-game species like marlin and tuna and draw fishermen each winter from around the world.

The good news is this new breed of pirate seems to be a little less savage than his predecessor, mostly demanding princely ransoms. So far there are no reports of plank walking.

And for your pleasure, no wait, actually this is more for my pleasure, a couple of cheesy pirate jokes after the jump.

What rating did the pirate movie receive?
An arrrr

Why is pirating so addictive?
They say once ye lose yer first hand, ye get hooked

What's a horny pirate's worst nightmare?
A sunken chest with no booty

Zing.