Pacific Ministers Lead Fisheries Management

The decision by the Ministers was to maintain support to the closure of two high seas pockets as agreed by the WPCFC meeting in 2008 and to consider the closure of the two additional eastern high seas pockets. The Ministers also agreed that this will be a key matter for FFA (Forum Fisheries Agency) members in the lead up to the WCPFC meeting this December.

Last year the WCPFC agreed to close almost 1.2 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean to purse seine fishing from January 2010. This week's decision by Pacific Ministers goes a step further, in considering the closure of the other high seas pockets, and in doing so strengthens fisheries management and will clamp out pirate fishing in the region.

The Pacific Ocean provides over half of the world's tuna supplies. For almost a decade scientists have been warning there is too much fishing in the region and new data last week (3) confirmed urgent action is needed to stop overfishing of the regional bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks.

"It is great to see Pacific leaders standing in solidarity and proposing bold measures on marine conservation and management. By closing these areas to fishing, Pacific Island Countries will be able to better manage the region's fisheries and ensure the future of this vital resource, " said Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Oceans Team Leader in Niue.

"We are however concerned about the level of big eye and yellow fin stocks as they are food for the Pacific people and backbone for most Pacific Island economies", said Josua Turaganivalu, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Oceans Campaigner.

New Zealand for the first time indicated their recognition of the high seas pocket closure agreed to by the WCPFC within the next two years, which is a positive development.

Greenpeace also wants to see fishing halved in the region and a ban on the use of fish aggregation devices in association with purse seine tuna fishing. This industrial fishing method lays waste to large numbers of juvenile tuna and other marine life such as threatened sharks and turtles in the region.

High seas marine reserves are essential not only to ensure fish for the future, but to help build resilience in this vulnerable region to climate change. Greenpeace is campaigning for a global network of fully protected marine reserves covering 40 percent of our oceans as an essential way to protect our seas from the ravages of climate change, to restore the health of fish stocks and protect ocean life from habitat destruction and collapse.