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For years, fishing fleets from distant countries have plundered the Pacific's tuna, ignoring legitimate concerns of Pacific Island countries. In December last year, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and mainland China blocked conservation measures at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting. And as we have witnessed over the past two months at sea in the Pacific Commons - their fleets are continuing to decimate tuna stocks and threaten Pacific livelihoods.
But the tide has turned.
New rules
A new agreement between eight Pacific countries bans foreign fishing vessels licensed to fish in their waters from fishing in two regions of the Pacific Commons adjacent to them. This is a giant stride towards making these areas marine reserves and protecting Pacific tuna. It's exactly what Greenpeace has been pushing for since 2005.
The eight countries (parties to the Nauru Agreement) are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Most of the Pacific's tuna stocks, valued at $3 billion a year, come from the waters of these countries.
The orange areas mark the Pacific Commons, which we want to see protected. The grey areas mark the EEZs - the national fishing waters. ©Greenpeace
No more throwing back the low-value fish
The agreement also requires foreign fishing vessels to retain their full catches. This will cut the time fishing boats spend at sea and the amount of tuna they catch. At present they throw away non-tuna species to make room in their holds for the more valuable catch. It will also be compulsory to carry fisheries observers on board at all times.
Fish aggregation devices (used to attract juvenile bigeye and yellowfin tuna) will be banned in these countries' waters for three months of the year. This conservation measure will discourage harvesting of these highly migratory species. These new rules take effect on 15 June, 2008.
Greenpeace’s solutions
Our ship, Esperanza, is in Pacific highlighting overfishing. Over eight weeks, we have taken action against fishing fleets from Taiwan, Korea, the US and the Philippines.
Greenpeace is calling on the Australian Government to support the Pacific Island nations to make fishing in the region sustainable by turning some of the Pacific’s international waters into no-take marine reserves. This will allow tuna stocks and all other marine life to recover from overexploitation.
Greenpeace is also calling for a 50% cut to the fishing effort in the Pacific to ensure there is tuna left to catch in the future.
Greenpeace advocates the creation of a network of marine reserves, protecting 40 per cent of the world's oceans, as the long-term solution to overfishing and the recovery of our overexploited oceans.
What you can do
You can help ensure the survival of the Pacific’s tuna stocks by demanding that retailers and chefs stop stocking unsustainable tuna products such as bluefin, bigeye and yellowfin, which are now threatened in all oceans.What you can do to stop overfishing
Tuna TV: Firsthand accounts of overfishing's impacts plus updates from the Esperanza
