Tuna fisheries management groups from different countries stymied Pacific Island countries’ attempts to protect tuna stocks. They took part in the Kob I fisheries meeting held in Brisbane, Australia. Greenpeace Pacific Oceans Campaigner Duncan Williams, said that the meeting was a disgrace and he added that foreign tuna industries are preventing Pacific Island countries from protecting their tuna by not agreeing to a timely process or criteria to cut the number of boats on the water to a sustainable level.
As per the views of Williams there are too many boast chasing too few fish. Kobe II meeting was attended by the five tuna fisheries management groups from across the globe. The meeting was organized to discuss the ways to resolve the dilemma of ‘overcapacity’ in tuna fishing. It was acknowledged that the amount of vessels fishing the oceans far outweighs the fish’s availability.
Williams warned if fishing continues at this rate then very soon there will be empty oceans. It is fact that foreign fishing industries have literally hijacked discussions to protect pacific tuna and have ultimately put at stake the livelihoods and economies of dependant Pacific Island communities that still use canoes and a pole and line to catch their fish.
Overfishing is a menace and international officials failed to act upon strictly. Greenpeace have urged consumers and retailers take intensified action to save the world’s endangered tuna stocks. Greenpeace is campaigning for sustainable and equitable fisheries and a network of fully protected marine reserves to span 40 percent of the world’s oceans.
