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Commercial fishing boat - Source: ONE News
A fresh fishing battle has broken out in the Pacific, with
Greenpeace forcing a Korean trawler to move out of international
waters proposed as a future marine reserve.
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza confiscated fishing gear off the
vessel MFV Oryong 717 and refused to give it back until the boat
agreed to move into the waters off Kiribati, where it has a licence
to fish.
The environmental organisation is on a mission to protect rapidly
depleting stocks of bigeye and yellowfin tuna, which are being
increasingly fished by vessels from the US, Europe and Asia.
In May, Pacific countries proposed that all pockets of
international waters located in between their economic zones be
closed to fishing activities to allow stocks to rebuild.
Josua Turaganivalu, Greenpeace's oceans campaigner on board the
Esperanza, said this was a warning to vessels to steer clear of
these zones.
"All countries must respect the wishes of Pacific nations to close
these areas and protect tuna - their lifeline," Turaganivalu
said.
In the case of the Oryong 717, activists removed a hook from the
mouth of a stingray that had been snared as bycatch, and retrieved
a section of lines and hooks left behind by the vessel.
They also confiscated fishing equipment until the fishermen agreed
to be escorted to approved waters.
More than half the world's tuna is caught in the Pacific, with the
vast majority taken by distant fishing nations.
Despite agreements to reduce tuna catches to combat over-fishing,
an estimated 2,426,195 metric tonnes of tuna was caught in the
Pacific in 2008, the highest annual catch on record, Greenpeace
says.
Longliners like the Oryong 717 target bigeye and yellowfin tuna,
most destined for luxury sashimi markets.
Greenpeace says its Pacific tour has already confiscated several
banned fish aggregating devices and exposed the illegal fishing
activities of a Japanese vessel and two Taiwanese longline
boats.
The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency also carried out a
coordinated maritime surveillance operation in which 21 vessels
were boarded and several fines meted.
