Greenpeace is calling for urgent action to rescue Pacific tuna fisheries after the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC, or the Pacific Tuna Commission) Science meeting concluded that stocks have declined even further.
The rush to catch tuna intensified in 2008, with a record catch reported in the Western and Central Pacific region.
The science committee has recommended a 34-50% cut to protect the most vulnerable bigeye tuna stocks. Greenpeace has already been campaigning for years for a precautionary 50% cut in fishing effort across the Pacific region.
The WCPFC’s science meeting also agreed that purse seining using Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs) is threatening juvenile tuna and other marine life. This year the Commission has instituted a two-month ban on FAD use with purse seiners for August and September. Greenpeace has been repeatedly calling for a global ban on the use of FADs with purse seine fisheries at all times.
“The Pacific Tuna Commission meeting this December in Tahiti must immediately act on this scientific warning,” said Genevieve Quirk of Greenpeace Australia Pacific currently in Vanuatu. “They must ensure fishing is halved across all Pacific tuna fisheries, as well as close all four pockets of international water between Pacific Island Countries to all fishing.”
The countries with the highest tuna catch reported at the meeting are the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA. China and Spain are also showing a steady increase in catch sizes.
Greenpeace is calling for a global network of marine reserves covering 40% of the ocean to give them a chance to recover after decades of overexploitation and wants to see these biodiversity rich international waters of the Pacific set aside as world’s first high seas marine reserves where no fishing is allowed.
