Greenpeace calls for sustainable tuna
As politicians gathered in Guam this week for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to decide on the future of Pacific tuna, Greenpeace released its second ranking of Canadian canned tuna companies.
The organisation says that the report shows real progress in Canada and elsewhere in response to increasing global consumer demand for responsibly-sourced tuna. Greenpeace is demanding that the WCPFC listen to consumer and industry demand for sustainable tuna and end all fishing in the Pacific Commons, ban Fish Aggregating Devices in purse seine fisheries and cut the bigeye tuna catch in half.
“If we want ample fish and fishing industries for the future, we need drastic change today,” said Sari Tolvanen, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner. “This Canadian ranking shows that change is taking place across the global tuna marketplace, thanks to consumers and visionary business leaders. It is clearer than ever that the WCPFC must strengthen its existing conservation measures and manage Pacific tuna populations for the benefit of everyone, not just the industrial fishing industry lobbyists.”
The Western and Central Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest tuna fishery, where roughly 60% of the world’s tuna supplies come from. Valuable bigeye tuna is now overfished and yellowfin skipjack and albacore tuna’s are all in decline. Greenpeace says that destructive fishing methods, such as purse seine fishing on FADs are largely to blame along with the WCPFC’s failure to follow its own scientists’ advice in reducing tuna catches.
“We know that illegal fishing is rampant in the Pacific, causing island communities to lose food and jobs to foreign fishing powers, the same ones who are trying to unravel conservation measures here in Guam. This can and must be the year when this Commission puts the ability of the world to eat and fish tuna for generations to come ahead of corporate profits,” added Mr Tolvanen.
Greenpeace has also just released two Pacific tuna reports: one outlining progress taken by tuna companies to save Pacific tuna in recent years and another detailing illegal fishing activities documented by Greenpeace during its 2011 Defending our Pacific ship tour.