Watson, who once worked as a commercial fisher and who now hosts
The ITM Fishing Show, said the Greenpeace report highlighted the
poor state of fisheries like snapper, hoki and orange roughy and
the environmental damage being caused by industrial fishing.
"Our fisheries are in trouble. You only need to look at orange
roughy, where three of the eight fisheries have been fished to
collapse even though they've been managed under the quota
management system since the system was established."
He said claims by the industry that it was acting sustainably
weren't matched by statistics or what he had experienced.
"In my short life time I've noticed a decline in several species
of fish, but it's when you talk to fishers from my father's
generation, or my grandfather's generation that you realise how
much some stocks have declined."
The report states 26 fisheries are classed as over-fished or in
substantial decline while 51 fisheries cause habitat damage and
almost all catch non-target fish.
"Fish stocks are collapsing around the world and it's happening
right here in our waters. We need to take the pressure off our
fisheries now or, one day, there won't be any."
The Greenpeace report titled, While Stocks Last - Supermarkets
and the Future of Seafood, calls on New Zealand's two supermarket
chains - Progressive Enterprises (owned by Woolworths Australia)
and Foodstuffs - to adopt comprehensive sustainable seafood
policies. At present neither business has any formal guidelines in
place.
Greenpeace oceans campaigner, Karli Thomas, said consumers
needed to pressure supermarkets to stock only truly sustainable
seafood.
"The more people who demand truly sustainable seafood from their
retailers the more incentive and pressure there will be on
industrial fisheries to supply sustainably caught fish."
Most of New Zealand's seafood (around 90 per cent) is exported,
so the actions of consumers in other parts of the world will also
have an impact on the future of the country's fisheries.
"Already, many retailers in Europe and North America have
adopted sustainable seafood policies and have taken some New
Zealand caught species like orange roughy off their shelves,
sending a clear message to the New Zealand fishing industry to
change its ways."
Other contacts: For Matt Watson contact Kate Mounter at Tightlines Television – 09 407 5922
Greenpeace oceans campaigner Karli Thomas – 021 905582
Greenpeace media officer Phil Crawford – 021 2299 594
Notes: Matt Watson has recorded a short video summarising the Greenpeace report – While Stocks Last – Supermarkets and the Future of Seafood. It can be viewed at
http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/sos/matt-watson-video
Exp. contact date: 2009-07-15 00:00:00