Southern bluefin tuna fleets endanger wildlife, warns WWF
11 Oct 2007
Gland, Switzerland - Thousands of seabirds, and significant numbers of sharks and marine turtles, are caught and killed each year in long-line fisheries targeting southern bluefin tuna (SBT), reveals a new WWF report.
Japan's long-line SBT fleet killed between 6,000 and 9,000 seabirds per year in the 2001 and 2002 fishing seasons. About three quarters of the species taken were albatrosses, and one fifth petrels.
It's estimated the annual deaths of seabirds from all SBT fishing could be as high as 13,500, including about 10,000 albatrosses. Of the 22 species of albatrosses, 19 are classified as threatened with extinction according to the World Conservation Union.
"SBT long-line fleets are fishing blind, with little or no understanding of their devastating impact on threatened species," says Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF's Global Marine Programme. "Responsible countries must urgently implement measures to dramatically reduce the death toll."
The new report exposes 10 years of inaction by members of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), and calls for reform measures to be agreed at their annual meeting in Australia next week to stem the catch of endangered wildlife and reduce chronic overfishing.
Southern bluefin tuna, a migratory fish found mainly in the southern waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is fished predominantly by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, and several other Asian countries. Long-line fishing fleets take around two-thirds of the reported catch of SBT.
"Currently the Commission only requires the use of tori poles, devices used to scare away seabirds from fishing lines, whereas they should be calling for a whole suite of bycatch reduction measures to be enforced," adds Dr Cripps.
"CCSBT now lags well behind other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations' efforts to tackle bycatch."
The report urges member of the CCSBT to immediately agree mandatory requirements for the collection and submission of data on the impact of SBT fishing on non-target species and to ensure their on-board observer programme prioritise the collection of this data.
More information
Brian Thomson, Press Office, WWF International
Phone: +41 22 364 9562
Mobile: +41 79 417 3553
Email: bthomson@wwfint.org
Jessica Battle, Global Marine Programme
Phone: +41 22 364 9025
Mobile: +41 78 891 4844
Email: jbattle@wwfint.org
Notes
- Interviews for radio, TV and print are available with Dr. Simon Cripps. To book please contact Brian Thomson, Press Office, t +41 22 364 9562, m +41 79 417 3553, e bthomson@wwfint.org and Jessica Battle, Global Marine Programme, t+41 22 364 9025 , m+41 78 891 4844, e jbattle@wwfint.org
- Photographs are available to accompany this press release. Please contact Jessica Battle, Global Marine Programme, t +41 22 364 9025 , m+41 78 891 4844, e jbattle@wwfint.org or Brian Thomson, Press Office, t +41 22 364 9562, m +41 79 417 3553, e bthomson@wwfint.org.
- The report Behind the Facade: A decade of inaction on non-target species in the southern bluefin tuna Fisheries can be found on http://www.panda.org/marine
- Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) include Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, European Community, Indonesia, Philippines and South Africa. CCSBT is holding its annual meeting in Canberra from October 16-19
- Governance of the world's oceans is characterised by a patchwork of organisations tasked with the conservation and management of living marine resources. Formal co-operation between States through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) dates back to at least the 1920s and there are now 16 RFMOs with a mandate to establish binding management measures for fisheries resources.
- Southern bluefin tuna, a migratory fish which has its spawning grounds south-west of Indonesia and is caught mainly in the southern waters of the Indian Ocean. More than 60 per cent of the southern bluefin tuna catch has been taken by the ling-line fleets of Japan, New Zealand, Korea and Taiwan. Australia takes around 40% of the catch by purse seine. Indonesia, a non-member of the Commission, also takes significant quantities of SBT by longline on the SBT spawning grounds. Seabirds, notably albatross, marine turtles and sharks are snared and often drown on the hooks set by long-line fleets.
- The CCSBT relies on ad hoc reporting of bycatch data by it members. Data is therefore piecemeal and inconsistent if reported at all. The publicly available data for seabirds indicates that thousands of seabirds are killed annually by SBT longliners. However the absence of other data precludes any meaningful assessment of the nature and extent of bycatch of other species in these fleets.
