Activists from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza have confiscated an illegal fish aggregating device (FAD) floating in international waters between the maritime borders of Micronesia and Papua New Guinea.
A two-month ban is currently in place on the use of FADs in waters spanning the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, where key tuna stocks are threatened with collapse. Tuna ships from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Philippines, Indonesia, USA and Spain often come to fish in these areas
FADs are floating devices that are used by industrial purse seiners to attract large schools of tuna, but also attract a host of other species, such as sharks and turtles, and juvenile tuna before everything around the FAD is caught. Scientists have warned that Pacific tuna stocks, particularly bigeye and yellowfin whose juveniles are frequently caught in FAD fishing, have already been fished beyond sustainable limits.
“The two-month ban on fish aggregating devices is not sufficient to stop the depletion of Pacific tuna stocks and safeguard marine life. The use of these devices is out of control,” said Karli Thomas, Greenpeace New Zealand oceans campaigner, onboard the Esperanza. “A total global ban on the use of FADs is urgently needed to help tuna stocks recover and to protect marine biodiversity.”
