European fishing vessels should be banned from the Pacific Ocean, says Greenpeace.
Despite two key Pacific tuna stocks already being in serious trouble, the European Union (EU) has licensed 96 new boats to fish in the Western Pacific region.
The licensed vessels are flagged in France, the UK, Portugal and Spain, and include three of the largest and most modern tuna seiners in the world.
These Spanish giant vessels, known as super seiners, have the capacity to freeze 200 tons of tuna a day and can hold up to 2,200 tons at a time.
In a year, two of these vessels can take nearly double an entire year's haul for the whole of the Federated States of Micronesia's (FSM) tuna fishing fleet, according to Greenpeace.
“If we don’t want to see Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna go the same way as Atlantic Cod, then we need to halve fishing in the region, not increase it,†said Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Ocean campaigner on board the Greenpeace ship, M.Y. Esperanza.
â€With their own waters fished out, the EU and other foreign fishing fleets, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the US, are literally sailing across the world to take vital fish and income from people whose lives depend on it†Toribau continued.
The EU is a member of the regional Tuna Commission (Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission), a body whose stated purpose is to protect tuna stocks.
France, which has a separate in the commission, is also requesting that some of its biggest boats are allowed into the Pacific – including its largest tuna catcher, with a capacity to take 1250 tons a haul.
“Instead of taking responsibility for plundering their own fish stocks, European countries are now trying to rob the Pacific. The EU must pay fairer returns for their licenses, provide greater support for enforcement in the region, and fish responsibly - not contribute further to the Pacific tuna crisis,†said Farah Obaidullah, Greenpeace EU oceans campaigner.
In order to protect Pacific tuna stocks from collapse, Greenpeace is calling for the number of fish caught to be halved, for a ban on construction of any new super-super seiners, and for none of the existing ones to be allowed into the region.
The Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza, is currently in the Pacific, Exposing the threats of overfishing and illegal fishing, as part of a 15-month global expedition.