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Glimmer of hope for Pacific tuna

Greenpeace and KFEM activists display a banner in Busan, Korea, the venue of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting this week. Greenpeace and KFEM support the proposal by Pacific Island countries for closure of the high seas areas to fishing, and a reduction of the tuna catch in the region. Enlarge Image

Sending out an SOS for Pacific tuna

Our activists together with Korean environmental group KFEM created a huge human "SOS Tuna" banner on the shores of a beach in Busan, Korea, as a key regional meeting in Korea began this week. This extremely critical meeting will decide the fate of valuable tuna stocks in the Pacific, which are now seriously threatened due to overfishing.

The most devastatingly efficient tuna fishing vessel in the world. Enlarge Image

World's largest tuna destroyer

We chased it for 5 days, but as dawn broke over the Pacific this morning we finally confronted the biggest tuna fishing vessel in the world. The Spanish-owned and flagged tuna purse seiner "Albatun Tres" is known as a 'super, super seiner' and can net 3,000 tonnes of tuna in a single fishing trip. This is almost double the entire annual catch of some Pacific island countries.

For many pacific island countries, no tuna means no future. Enlarge Image

Pacific islands act to save tuna

Finally, some good news for tuna stocks and a first step towards protecting the Pacific Commons for future generations! Eight Pacific island countries have taken the most significant action ever to combat overfishing in the region.

Greenpeace activists from Fiji and Papua New Guinea stand on juvenile yellowfin and skipjack tuna in the hold of a vessel that was caught offloading fish from purse seiners in the Pacific Commons. Enlarge Image

Pirate of the Pacific busted by Greenpeace

We caught an illegal tuna purse seiner (Queen Evelyn 168) in the Pacific Commons on Friday. This Philippines-flagged vessel was close to the transfer of tuna between her sister vessel and a refrigerated mothership. It was likely that transfer of fish at sea, involving this illegal vessel, was about to occur. But upon our arrival the vessels immediately separated and fled.

An endangered olive ridley turtle rescued by Greenpeace from a Taiwanese longliner. Enlarge Image

Greenpeace frees ocean life from Pacific longliner

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza freed tuna, sharks, marlin and an endangered sea turtle from a Taiwanese longliner on Saturday. The vessel was fishing in the Pacific Commons, the international waters we want to see protected as a marine reserve.

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