Activists from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza last week unfurled banners saying “Marine Reserves Now” and "No Return from Overfishing” after witnessing Japanese purse seiner Fukuichi Maru fish tuna in a pocket of international waters in the Pacific where key tuna stocks are threatened with collapse.
Greenpeace says that the ship was caught using a fish aggregating device (FAD), supposedly banned in the Pacific ocean for two months although a loophole in the ban is allowing fleets from Japan, the Philippines and New Zealand to continue their plunder of the Pacific.
“Countries are making a mockery of the two month ban on FAD fishing. In our first week on the high seas, we came across six of these devices although they are banned. Today we've witnessed a Japanese vessel hauling a massive catch from a FAD, and exemptions in the ban are allowing them to get away with this plunder,” said Josua Turaganivalu, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, onboard the Esperanza. “A total ban on the use of fish aggregation devices is urgently needed. If Pacific tuna species are not protected soon, it will spell not just the end of Japan’s favourite sushi, but of a vital resource of Pacific Island countries.”
Greenpeace is calling on Japan’s new government to lead other major fishing nations in the region to agree to an immediate 50% reduction in Pacific tuna catch, support the closure of all four pockets of international waters to fishing activities, and have them declared as marine reserves to allow tuna stocks to recover.
Several tuna species, such as Pacific bigeye and yellowfin, are already overfished. Responding to this, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) – the Pacific’s tuna governing body, of which Japan is a member – agreed to close two of these pockets to purse seine tuna fishing from 2010 onwards. A ban on FAD use during August and September was also instituted. In addition, Pacific Island countries proposed in May to close all four pockets of international waters in between their economic zones where the significant amount of tuna fishing is taking place.
