Canned tuna's secret catch

Until recently the Pacific had the world's last healthy tuna fisheries. These are now being overfished as industrial fishing fleets, which have exhausted tuna stocks in other oceans, are now concentrating their efforts in the Pacific.

All Pacific tuna stocks are in decline. Bigeye and yellowfin are the most at risk. Scientists have advised that fishing needs to be cut by up to 50 per cent to allow bigeye tuna to recover.

Many fishing fleets are using methods which are destructive catching five to 10 times more turtles, sharks and juvenile tuna compared to more sustainable fishing practices.

There are more than 6000 vessels licensed to fish in the Western and Central Pacific region. In 2009 those vessels caught almost 2.5 million tonnes of tuna – around 60 per cent of the world’s tuna supply.

Foreign fishing vessels continue to steal tuna from the region, exploiting four pockets of international waters between Pacific islands nations. Illegal fishing is estimated to cost the Pacific region up to NZ$1.7 billion per year.

Tuna in trouble

New Zealanders love tuna. Most of the canned tuna we eat comes from the Pacific – just on our doorstep. However, industrial fishing methods are putting tuna stocks under strain and killing threatened turtles and sharks. Until recently the Pacific was considered to be the world’s last healthy fishery but now scientists say fishing needs to be cut by half to allow some species to recover. New Zealand’s main tuna brands, our fishing fleets and our Government must take urgent action to protect the Pacific's tuna fishery.