“Taiwan Must Support Pacific Islands Protect Their Remaining Tuna Stocks”ff

From The Fiji Times

Greenpeace has urged members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to reduce the regional tuna catches by half.

And it also wants the member countries to designate four pockets of international waters as marine reserves closed to all fishing.

Greenpeace Australia’s Pacific Oceans campaigner, Duncan Williams said those measures were needed to save the region’s commercially valuable tuna stocks from collapse.

Mr. Duncan said those were in addition to a total ban on purse seine fishing using fish aggregating devices.

He is on board Greenpeace’s largest ship, the Esperanza on the “Defending our Pacific” expedition aimed to prevent the plunder of Pacific tuna and to restore the health of the world’s oceans.

He is accompanied on the campaign by fellow Fijian, Apisalome Waqanisau. The two men Wednesday protested against a Taiwanese fishing vessel in the Pacific high seas and also helped free a marlin from the ship’s longline hooks.

Mr. Williams also said that, “Taiwan must provide leadership in stopping the plunder of our oceans.”

“The Taiwanese government should support the creation of marine reserves in the Pacific,” he said.

“Taiwan must support Pacific Island countries protect their remaining fish stocks from being depleted,” said Mr. Williams.

Greenpeace Taiwan’s oceans campaigner, Yu Fen Kao said, “So much is at stake for Taiwain - food, jobs and industry - if we lose these tuna stocks forever.”

Taiwan operates the largest longline fleet in the Pacific with 1880 vessels, most of which are longliners like the one that was fishing in the Pacific high seas Wednesday.