Greenpeace protested beside the DongWon tuna purse seiner "Juventus" on Sunday.
The side of the boat was painted with the message 'Pirate?' in both Korean and English to highlight the 'shady' history of parent company DongWon. Activists also held a banner reading 'Marine reserves now!' to protect tuna from overfishing in the pocket of international waters between Pacific island countries – the Pacific Commons - to the east of the Solomon Islands.
The Captain of the "Juventus" told Greenpeace activists he had heard about the recent agreement signed in Palau that will see Pacific island countries close fishing access to this area of international waters.
Vast areas of the Pacific Commons will be closed to fishing starting from the 15t June. The "Juventus" was peacefully escorted into the waters of Solomon Islands where the vessel had a license to fish after the Captain agreed that he will not engage in any future fishing activities in the Pacific Commons.
"We want commitment from DongWon, the Korean Government and all other countries fishing in the area that the fishing closure will be respected", said Lagi Toribau oceans campaigner on board Greenpeace ship "Esperanza".
"We need to ensure tuna for the future and we want the Korean Government to support the designation of these areas as marine reserves at the West and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. We also need to see Korea urgently agreeing to reduce their tuna fishing vessels in the Pacific", said Jung Choi of Korean environmental group KFEM on board the Esperanza.
Korea's DongWon Industries Co. Ltd, a significant global player in the tuna industry. In 2006, Greenpeace together with Kiribati fisheries inspectors boarded another DongWon owned vessel, "DongWon 117", which fled Kiribati waters after Greenpeace discovered discrepancies in its documentation and reporting.
