amy kellog spoke with a former commander of the task force. >> all of our nation's leaders have concerns over how do we protect our people, how do we protect commerce? that flow is the economic engine of the world. >> the task force is comprised of up to 25 warships from 25 countries. >> when there's a warship there, you don't have a hijack. when we aren't there, that's when they make their move. the pirates now travel far more widely looking for prey. despite the efforts of task force 151, merchant marijuanaers are forced to do much on their own. >> the merchant vessels themselves can do a huge amount to avoid an attack. >> look at how you plan your passage, try to avoid high piracy areas. the advice is to steer and stay closer to coalition forces. >> on land the pirate industry is flourishing. in most of somalia, priorscy is the only profitable business. so profitable that pirate stock exchanges have been set up, allowing somalis to invest money and weapons to reap a share of the ransom. one investor, the group al-shabab, is a radical organization with ties to al-qaeda. al-shabab train