Tuna bites
Bondi’s lifeguards recently took a short break from saving people to draw attention to the aggressive overfishing of tuna worldwide.
Lifeguards from Logie Award-winning series Bondi Rescue gave their support for sustainable tuna fishing when the new Greenpeace Canned Tuna Guide was launched last month on Bondi Beach.
“I was horrified to discover that my favourite tuna brand was wiping out tuna, turtles and sharks,” said lifeguard Brad Malyon.
“I spend most of my life in the ocean. Usually, I’m protecting people from the dangers of the ocean, but the oceans also need protection from us.”
Since Greenpeace first launched its Canned Tuna Guide, consumer pressure has led to major changes in the tuna market. Tuna is a nutritious and popular food, but as a result of indiscriminate and often illegal overfishing this fish is facing extinction. Greenpeace’s ratings document helps customers identify which brands are sustainably fished. Of the 12 brands analysed, only three came close to meeting the sustainability criteria.
Bluefin Tuna are among the largest fish in the ocean. Last month a 2.4metre, 445kg fish caught off Japan sold for $A50,000 at the Tokyo fish market. Japan consumes about 250,000 tonnes of tuna each year, over half imported. This demand creates a bonanza for poachers and illegal fisheries worldwide.
Sea Shepherd founder and president Captain Paul Watson says he is angry that the bluefin tuna crisis has gotten so out of hand.
“The fishing industry is literally investing in the extinction of this species so that they can control the price by hoarding the entire supply of bluefin tuna in cold storage. This kind of greed cannot be allowed to continue.”
He said it was outrageous the bluefin is being fished to extinction and no government in the world is doing anything about it.
Sea Shepherd just completed its 2010 Bluefin Tuna Defense Campaign Operation Blue Rage in the Mediterranean, where they successfully stopped several illegal fishing ventures and attracted public attention by having their flagship boat, the ‘Steve Irwin’, rammed by angry poachers.
More information at http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/issues/overfishing/our-work/cannedtuna.
– BY JEREMY BROWN
