Greenpeace activists from the Rainbow Warrior have been attacked as they attempted to carry out a peaceful inspection of the Spanish fishing vessel, Cabo Tinoso Dos, according to the organisation.
The attack came as activists opened a banner, saying ‘Bluefin Tuna Massacre’, to highlight the unsustainable fishing activities of such vessels, part of the industrial fleets that threaten the entire bluefin tuna industry. Greenpeace is calling on local authorities to carry out an official inspection of the vessel.
“Oversized industrial fishing fleets are putting bluefin at risk of disappearing altogether,” said Francois Provost, Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner. “Governments should establish fully protected marine reserves on the species’ spawning grounds to start giving a chance for the population to recover.”
“It’s time to take management of bluefin tuna away from ICCAT before it is too late,” said John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director for Greenpeace USA, who is travelling on the Rainbow Warrior. “We want to see the Obama administration and other influential governments end international trade in this endangered species.”
Greenpeace has just completed a monitoring survey of the Central Mediterranean purse seine fishing grounds. Preliminary findings show that after over a decade of massive overfishing, illegal catches are still a huge problem across the Mediterranean region. Moreover, the amount and average size of the bluefin tuna captures are in serious decline, confirming the latest warnings of an imminent collapse of the stock.
Greenpeace advocates the creation of a network of no-take marine reserves, protecting 40% of the world’s oceans, as the long-term solution to the overfishing of tuna and other species, and the recovery of overexploited oceans.
