According to Greenpeace Filipino fishing ships has been spotted engaged in illegal transfer of tuna at the high seas in the Pacific near Papua New Guinea. In a news statement the Greenpeace Southeast Asia office said that its ship, the Esperanza, exposed an illegal tuna purse seiner, Philippine-flagged Queen Evelyn 168, in a pocket of international waters between Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia, on Friday.
It was found that the purse seiner was at the site of a transfer of tuna between her sister vessel and a refrigerated mothership, both also registered to the Philippines. Greenpeace told that a transfer of fish at sea involving an illegal vessel was about to occur, but the arrival of Greenpeace prevented it from taking place as the vessels immediately separated and fled.
The organisation revealed that the pockets of international waters between Pacific island countries are especially prone to pirate activities and should be closed down to all fishing. The investigation revealed that the Queen Evelyn 168 is not authorized to undertake any fishing activities in the part of the Pacific. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission is supposed to protect tuna from overfishing, but it is clearly failing to do so, opined Greenpeace.
