When you hear about
Greenpeace taking action against shady fishing
vessels, you may not think that fishing
in Taiwan really impacts you. Well, it’s
not true. Our planet is covered in ocean-
70% of the Earth is covered in water. That’s
one big ocean with different names- the
fish and other marine life within them don’t
carry passports, don’t know about borders
and fisheries regulations. And global demand
for fish like tuna means that fishing fleets
are travelling farther, catching more and
more and forever changing the makeup of
the oceans. Our lack of knowledge of what
lies behind our tuna sandwiches is only
helping to wipe out fish populations, putting
people out of work and taking food from
the mouths of coastal peoples.
Earlier today, Greenpeace
confronted a dodgy fish carrier ship that
helps transfer tuna at sea, helping overfishing
continue and preventing well-meaning officials
from keeping track of who is taking fish
from the oceans and where they end up. What
we know about this vessel? Well, it was
docked in Taiwan, registered in Vanuatu,
previously flagged to Panama, arrested in
Japan and provides tuna to operations that
send canned tuna to the United States. This
global chain of custody is not rare: chances
are that your tuna sandwich has crossed
more time zones than most airplanes. More
than half the world’s tuna is caught in
the Pacific and that’s where the change
is needed most and where Greenpeace is campaigning
right now.
Because tuna travels
far means that we need people to take action
and make the right choices every step of
the way. The only way that we can leave
behind living oceans for our kids and their
kids is if we do the right thing ourselves
and demand that everyone else do the same.
If you eat tuna, make sure that it’s caught
responsibly and from a fair fishery. Buy
tuna that isn’t caught by operations that
engage in overfishing, transported on shady
vessels with human rights records. Tell
your supermarket, tell your favorite tuna
brand that you want sustainable fish. Tell
your elected leaders to support sensible
oceans conservation. After all, our oceans
provide millions of people with jobs and
every single one of us with the oxygen we
breathe. We simply can’t live without them-
and your tuna purchasing decision can have
a direct impact on our oceans and our future.
If you sell tuna, make sure you’re selling
tuna that won’t destroy island communities
and leave our oceans empty. Make the switch
to better tuna: caught using methods like
pole-and-line, which can help maintain jobs
and balance in the world’s waters.
Greenpeace is working
to defend our oceans every step of the way.
We’re working with nations to develop robust
and sound sustainable tuna fishing industries.
We are educating consumers about the plight
of the oceans and urging them to buy the
right tuna for the planet. We’re demanding
that tuna brands do the right thing and
stop canning ocean destruction. We’re getting
supermarkets behind our vision of a future
with plentiful tuna and healthy oceans.
We’re pushing the people meant to “manage”
our fisheries to manage our oceans for all
of us, not just the narrow tuna interests.
And, we’re working with governments to create
a global network of marine reserves. All
of these are important parts of our campaign
to save the oceans and our vision for a
green and peaceful future.
This peaceful protest
in Taiwan is a huge step for us - Greenpeace
is a relative newcomer to Taiwan, home to
one of the world’s largest tuna fleets.
Our brave activists took a risk to call
attention to the role one ship plays in
a huge problem that impacts us all. Just
a few weeks ago, our UK office ramped up
the pressure on tuna giant Princes. Taipei
and London are far from each other, but
very much connected in the tuna trade. Change
needs to happen in both places – and many
other in between – to keep our oceans alive.
So, think twice about what your tuna decisions
and start getting active and join us in
defending our oceans. After all, nothing
tastes as good as a healthy future will
feel to those who come after us.
