Thread: Tuna Fast disappearing in Thailand

Tuna fast disappearing to over-fishing: WWF

Gland (dpa)
In a report with heavy implications for Thailand, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (known as WWF) said this morning that tuna are fast disappearing from the world's oceans as governments "turn a blind eye" to illegal fishing methods.
The WWF, based in Gland, Switzerland, warned that high quality bluefin tuna, prized as high-end sushi and sashimi, was already critically depleted, to the point it is at risk of extinction from overfishing.

Closer to home, the spawning stock of Southern bluefin in the Indian Ocean was down 90 per cent.

"Sustainable management of the world's tuna fisheries should be possible, if the will can be found," said Director of the WWF's Global Marine Programme Simon Cripps.

"But many governments are routinely ignoring scientific advice, failing to implement the available conservation and management measures, turning a blind eye to illegal fishing and not prosecuting those who flout the rules."

The report could prove critical to the Thai fishing industry if governments react.

The Thai fishing fleet roams far from home in search of tuna. Major tuna-packing firms, both at home and abroad, are owned by Thais, and many packing houses in Thailand are entirely dependent upon tuna.

The WWF report, "Tuna in trouble: Major Problems for the World's Tuna Fisheries," warns of unsustainable quotas and far too many boats competing for the remaining tuna.

It is also concerned about governments paralysed by disputes over quotas and the failure to reduce the massive incidental catch, known as bycatch, of turtles, small whales and dolphins.

The report is published ahead of a week-long meeting due to open today in Kobe, Japan, of the five main Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, which attempt to police illegal fishing of tuna caught on the high seas, beyond national laws.


Well we will just have to eat more dolphins wont we, and no, they aint all like flipper.


Update: Tuna conservation body meets

Tokyo (dpa) - Five international groups working to conserve the world's tuna fish gathered in the western Japanese city of Kobe Monday to open their first joint meeting to discuss measures to sustain tuna stocks.

"The tuna stocks have been over-fished across the oceans, and we have to handle this problem with a global point of view," Japanese Fisheries Agency Director General Toshiro Shirasu was quoted as saying at the opening of the meeting. "I hope this meeting will help us start the process of cooperation."

At the conference, which ends on Friday, participants are expected to exchange ideas about monitoring systems, information sharing on illegal vessels and programmes to maintain data on catches for each nation, Jiji Press said.

Some 300 members of fishing-related organizations and governments of 60 countries and regions are attending the Joint Meeting of Tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations.

During the five days, participating organizations are scheduled to report on the current situation of their jurisdictions and draw an action plan for management of the tuna population.

Demand for tuna has been rising globally, according to experts.

Bluefin tuna are highly regarded and popular in Japan, most often consumed as sashimi and sushi, while the demand for the fish has been rising in Europe and the United States since the healthy diet boom, they said.

"Despite efforts by some governments ... populations of important species such as bluefin tuna are critically depleted," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement.

Atlantic bluefin, used for sushi and sashimi, is over-fished and the spawning stock of southern bluefin in the Indian Ocean is down about 90 per cent, the WWF said.

In attendance at the conference are the Western Central Pacific Ocean Fisheries Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna.

More than 2 million tons of tuna were caught in 2004 around the world, and the catch has doubled in the past 20 years, according to the data gathered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

"Sustainable management of the world's tuna fisheries should be possible, if the will can be found," the director of WWF's Global Marine Programme, Simon Cripps, said in a statement.

"But many governments are routinely ignoring scientific advice, failing to implement the available conservation and management measures, turning a blind eye to illegal fishing and not prosecuting those who flout the rules."

Japan, which initiated the first conference, hopes that each participating group will take action in eliminating illegal fishing and in sustaining tuna populations in the next year.

"We hope to build a foundation for strong tie-ups, which would help sustain our resources," an official at Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry was quoted as saying in Mainichi Shimbun.

Japan hopes to make the meeting an annual event.