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Fleets from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, the US and the EU take 90% of
Pacific tuna, while Pacific Islands receive just 5% of the US $2bn
profits made from their resources.
Lagi Toribau, lead campaigner onboard the Esperanza said, "Foreign fishing fleets take advantage of the Pacific's lack of resources in order to run amok. Kiribati has just one small patrol boat to cover over three million square miles. Pirate vessels are cheating Pacific Island people of income and food.”
Inspectors from the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati and Greenpeace boarded vessels that were consistently failing to report through their vessel monitoring systems (VMS). Some had almost certainly been transshipping at sea, making it impossible to monitor or regulate the size of their catch.
Vessel monitoring is the backbone of effective patrol and surveillance. A ship not reporting can easily carry out dishonest activities. Currently there is no requirement for vessels to report when they are on the high seas, a major loophole as it makes it almost impossible to track their activities. Another loophole currently allows longliner vessels to transship on the high seas.
Mr Toribau said, "We boarded boats that had been out at sea for over a year, yet only had a tiny amount of tuna onboard. There is no way to track how much they had really caught in that time.”
Greenpeace recently discovered a suspected pirate fishing boat in Suva port, Fiji. The boat has been blacklisted from the Eastern Pacific and is now under investigation by local authorities.
"Any boat with a known history of pirate fishing, here or in any other part of the world, should not be allowed to fish in our waters,” Mr Toribau said.
In order to close these loopholes and prevent Pacific tuna from collapse, as has happened with Mediterranean tuna stocks, authorities must:
- ban all trans shipments outside ports
- revoke the license of any vessel with a faulty VMS, and send them straight to port
- require all vessels to report from all fishing grounds, including the high seas
- ban any vessel with a pirate history from the Pacific.
In addition, Greenpeace is calling for foreign fishing nations to pay a far more representative fee for their licenses, and for a proportion of this to be allocated to enforcement resources and training.
Two key tuna stocks, Bigeye and Yellowfin are in serious trouble in the Pacific. Unless urgent action is taken they could face commercial extinction within three years.
Note to Editors
1. A detailed summary of the Greenpeace findings can be found at: http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/documents-reports/plundering-pacific
2. For more briefings and reports: www.oceans.greenpeace.org
3. Greenpeace is in the Pacific as part of the "Defending our Oceans" 15 month global expedition highlighting the threats to the world's oceans, and calling for 40% of the world’s oceans to be made into marine reserves.
Lagi Toribau, lead campaigner onboard the Esperanza said, "Foreign fishing fleets take advantage of the Pacific's lack of resources in order to run amok. Kiribati has just one small patrol boat to cover over three million square miles. Pirate vessels are cheating Pacific Island people of income and food.”
Inspectors from the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati and Greenpeace boarded vessels that were consistently failing to report through their vessel monitoring systems (VMS). Some had almost certainly been transshipping at sea, making it impossible to monitor or regulate the size of their catch.
Vessel monitoring is the backbone of effective patrol and surveillance. A ship not reporting can easily carry out dishonest activities. Currently there is no requirement for vessels to report when they are on the high seas, a major loophole as it makes it almost impossible to track their activities. Another loophole currently allows longliner vessels to transship on the high seas.
Mr Toribau said, "We boarded boats that had been out at sea for over a year, yet only had a tiny amount of tuna onboard. There is no way to track how much they had really caught in that time.”
Greenpeace recently discovered a suspected pirate fishing boat in Suva port, Fiji. The boat has been blacklisted from the Eastern Pacific and is now under investigation by local authorities.
"Any boat with a known history of pirate fishing, here or in any other part of the world, should not be allowed to fish in our waters,” Mr Toribau said.
In order to close these loopholes and prevent Pacific tuna from collapse, as has happened with Mediterranean tuna stocks, authorities must:
- ban all trans shipments outside ports
- revoke the license of any vessel with a faulty VMS, and send them straight to port
- require all vessels to report from all fishing grounds, including the high seas
- ban any vessel with a pirate history from the Pacific.
In addition, Greenpeace is calling for foreign fishing nations to pay a far more representative fee for their licenses, and for a proportion of this to be allocated to enforcement resources and training.
Two key tuna stocks, Bigeye and Yellowfin are in serious trouble in the Pacific. Unless urgent action is taken they could face commercial extinction within three years.
Note to Editors
1. A detailed summary of the Greenpeace findings can be found at: http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/documents-reports/plundering-pacific
2. For more briefings and reports: www.oceans.greenpeace.org
3. Greenpeace is in the Pacific as part of the "Defending our Oceans" 15 month global expedition highlighting the threats to the world's oceans, and calling for 40% of the world’s oceans to be made into marine reserves.
For further information or comment
Contact: Zoe Porter, Greenpeace media officer (Sydney) 0409 048 260 Jo Kuper, Greenpeace media officer (onboard the Esperanza) +47 514 079 86 Images / video footage: Michelle Thomas (Sydney) 0404 096 556 Note: Images can be downloaded at: http://photos.greenpeace.org.au Username: photos Password: green
