A Cook Islands fishing company has called on Greenpeace to help them fight for survival, after Cook Islands government issued fishing licenses to 17 foreign vessels.
The Taiwanese fishing boats will target tuna and swordfish over the next 3 years.
But Greenpeace says the decision will have devastating effects.
Presenter:Melanie Arnost Speaker:Tapi Taio, Cooks fisherman; Ben Ponia, Cooks Ministry of Marine Resources; Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Pacific Ocean’s team leader
Arnost: Local fisherman Tapi Taio says his company Taio Marine are the pioneers of long-line fishing in Cook Islands.
But after years of fishing in Rarotong waters the future of his business looks very bleak.
Taio: I cant see a future for us. We are the owners of this ocean, we are part of it, and we have been sold cheaply for a small amount of money.
Arnost: Cook Islands government has approved the granting of 17 fishing licenses for Taiwanese vessels to explore local waters for tuna and swordfish.
The deal with Taiwan will earn the government USD 600,000 a year.
But Mr. Taio says even before the licenses were issued, Rarotonga fisherman were already complaining about decreased catches.
Now he’s sure local businesses won’t survive.
Taio: We are very very disappointed with what the government is gone through. They’re gonna clean up our ocean, that’s how I see it, and we won't have anything left very soon.
Arnost: Secretary for Cook Islands Ministry for Marine Resources, Ben Ponia, says the government will monitor the vessels closely.
Ponia: The key condition is we’ve set up a monitoring program so that we get weekly reports coming through on the activities, catches and what not. And we have full access to the satellite tracking system so we know where abouts they are catching these fish.
We are also putting a limit on a 48 nautical mile exclusion zone around each island so that they don’t come too close to shore.
Arnost: He says the licenses are part of a long term plan to develop the fishing of Cook Island’s big-eye tuna stock... a species that is recognized by environmental organizations as overfished.
Fisherman Tapi Taio has called on environmental campaigners Greenpeace to come in and help local fishing companies.
