08
December 2008 - Busan, Korea, Republic of
— Our activists together with Korean environmental
group KFEM created a huge human "SOS
Tuna" banner on the shores of a beach
in Busan, Korea, as a key regional meeting
in Korea began this week. This extremely
critical meeting will decide the fate of
valuable tuna stocks in the Pacific, which
are now seriously threatened due to overfishing.
The Pacific ocean is
rich in marine life and home to over 20
Island Nations. Today, the Pacific supplies
over 6 percent of the world's tuna. But
overfishing in other areas of the world
means more and more boats are moving in,
and chasing fewer and fewer fish.
Huge industrial tuna
boats, capable of catching as many tuna
in one trip as some of the countries are
able to take in a year, are plundering this
vulnerable region at a rate that means trouble
for the tuna as well as the people whose
livelihoods and futures depend on them.
These boats originate
from countries like Korea, Japan and Taiwan
and feed the ever-increasing appetites for
tuna in the luxury Asian, European and US
markets.
It's not just about
saving some fish
The lives and economies
of Pacific Islanders and Pacific Island
nations are in peril as big eye and yellow
fin tuna stocks are threatened from overfishing.
Pacific communities are at the mercy of
unscrupulous foreign fishers and our growing
global appetite for tuna is in the grip
of unfair and unsustainable fishing.
We are calling on delegates
at this week's Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in
Korea to implement measures for a sustainable
and profitable fishing industry. The WCPFC
must start putting words into action by
agreeing on strong and effective measures.
A precautionary and ecosystem-based approach
is needed to preserve the rich marine diversity
of the Pacific Ocean.
Reduce, protect and
reject
There must be an immediate
halving of fishing, a closure to fishing
in the high seas pockets and an immediate
halt to the transfer of fish at sea to discourage
piracy.
The WCPFC must ensure
decisions are not hijacked again by a small
minority of nations that are not acting
in the best interest of Pacific people,
their valuable tuna resources and the health
of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
ecosystem.
We have one last chance
to ensure the bigeye and yellowfin tuna
stocks do not face the same fate as bluefin
tuna of the Mediterranean. The Commission
has to be prepared to face the consequences
if negotiations break down to governments
and industry ruthlessly bargaining for the
last tuna.
Our ship, the Esperanza,
is present in Korea to bear witness to the
WCPFC's decisions, which will dictate the
future of Pacific tuna.
Korea should lead by
example
We have joined forces with Korean environmental
group KFEM to ensure that Korea, as the
host nation and key player in the fishery,
takes the lead in making sure that this
meeting takes action.
We need marine reserves
which will fully protect the most vulnerable
breeding grounds of the tuna from exploitation.
We need sustainable management measures
outside those areas that will secure a future
for this fishery and for the future of the
millions of Pacific island people that depend
on this resource for their livelihood.
