Unloading tonnes of tuna from the brailed net
retailers such as Waitrose have removed FAD-caught tuna not just from their canned products but also sandwiches and ready meals. In the past month, recreational fishers have supported action to protect Pacific tuna. The president of the Sport Fishing Council, Richard Baker, said he was deeply concerned about the situation in the Pacific, describing it as "nothing short of plunder". "As recreational fishers, we're often the first to be affected when stocks start to decline. We have been sounding the alarm on yellowfin for a few years now, but to turn things around that alarm needs to be heeded. The writing is on the wall when one of the largest sportfishing tournaments in the country has to be renamed after tuna have disappeared from the catch."
Baker called on consumers to help build pressure on the tuna brands like Sealord to change to sustainably caught tuna. "The power of the consumer can be used to ensure more sustainable fishing practices are used in the tuna fishery. It has worked before, with demand for dolphin-free catching methods changing the way purse seine vessels operate."
While the situation is pretty dire for the Pacific, and yellowfin are increasingly scarce in our waters, there is a glimmer of hope. The organisation charged with managing the Pacific's tuna stocks, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, is being presented with some solid proposals to protect stocks. Last year a group of Pacific Island countries, known as Parties to the Nauru Agreement, or PNA, supported by New Zealand and Australia, proposed an historic measure to close four pockets of international waters flanking their borders to all tuna purse seine fishing. This year the PNA countries are clamping down on the use
of FADs, with the current three-month ban being increased to six months. However, the decision-making relies on consensus, not an easy task in a commission split between developing nations whose waters contain rich tuna stocks, and developed countries with vast fishing fleets traveling to the region to exploit those stocks. Last year, South Korea and the European Union rejected the
PNA's proposal to close the high seas, meaning that while PNA- licensed vessels will not fish in the high seas, vessels without these local fishing licenses can continue to fish there. Only if these measures are agreed by the WCPFC will loopholes like this be removed and the rules applied equally to all vessels. Also rejected were proposals to reduce fishing effort in the Pacific by limiting the number of days that can be fished, and banning purse seine fishing around whale sharks and cetaceans, which are targeted as they attract fish, but are sometimes killed in the process.
No fish means no future for the people of the Pacific region. Unfortunately, many governments attending the commission appear to represent only the views of their industrial fishing sector, at the expense of the Pacific, its tuna stocks and those who depend upon them.
New Zealanders can now help when they go to the supermarket by only buying tuna caught using more sustainable methods and avoiding brands that continue to source tuna from purse seiners using FADs.
Karli Thomas is an oceans campaigner for Greenpeace New Zealand
September/October 2011 Professional Skipper 67
