Greenpeace Pacific activist Josua Turaganivalu Jnr said the lives and economies of Pacific Islanders and Pacific Island nations are in peril as big eye and yellow fin tuna deplete from overfishing.

“Pacific communities are at the mercy of unscrupulous foreign fishers and a growing global appetite for tuna in the grip of unfair and unsustainable fishing,” said Mr Turaganivalu.

Greenpeace is calling on delegates at this week's Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Korea to implement measures for a sustainable and profitable fishing industry.

“There must be an immediate halving of fishing, a closure to fishing in the high seas pockets and an immediate halt to the transfer of fish at sea to discourage piracy.”

Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Oceans campaigner

“To say this year’s Commission meeting is critical is an understatement," said Greenpeace Oceans campaigner Lagi Toribau. “The WCPFC must get on with the job of putting its words into action and agree to strong and effective measures to maintain a sustainable and profitable fishery. A precautionary and ecosystem-based approach must be adopted to preserve the rich marine diversity of the Pacific Ocean.”

“There must be an immediate halving of fishing, a closure to fishing in the high seas pockets and an immediate halt to the transfer of fish at sea to discourage piracy,” he said.

Half the world's tuna is caught in the Pacific, the last relatively abundant tuna fishery left in the world, with stocks elsewhere having been fished to their biological and economic limits.

Mr Toribau said the WCPFC must ensure decisions are not again hijacked by a small minority of nations that are not acting in the best interest of the future of the Pacific peoples, their valuable tuna resources and the health of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean ecosystem.

Mr Toribau pointed to the shameful outcomes last week from the 16th Annual Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCTA). He called on the WCPFC to not make the same mistake as the ICCTA.

“The game for global tuna stocks is not over yet – the WCPFC has a last chance to ensure the bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks do not face the same fate as bluefin tuna. The Commission has to be prepared to face the consequences if negotiations break down to governments and industry ruthlessly bargaining for the last tuna,” said Mr Toribau.

Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, is present in Korea to bear witness to the WCPFC's decisions, which will dictate the future of Pacific tuna.