Greenpeace accuses Taiwan tolerating overfishing tuna stocks

Nov 21, 2009, 12:44 GMT

Taipei - International environment protection group the Greenpeace on Saturday accused the Taiwan government of tolerating illegal fishing and overfishing of tuna by the country's fishermen.

At a news conference held in Taipei together with the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST), Greenpeace Oceans Campaigner Sari Tolvanen provided photo evidence of Taiwan trawlers engaged in illegal fishing in the Pacific.

The illegal fishing and overfishing has threatened the survival of tuna, stocks of which are declining, Greenpeace said.

In a recent eight-week period, Greenpeace documented seven Taiwanese vessels operating illegally. Of the vessels carrying Taiwanese flags or operated by Taiwanese companies, three were caught fishing or transferring fish illegally, while the other four were fishing exclusively in vulnerable high-seas pockets where surveillance is non-existent.

Tolvanen stressed that the actions Greenpeace observed were 'just the tip of the iceberg.'

'Dozens of reports are released from around the world every year to tell the story of Taiwan's fishing fleets out of control,' she said.

'This cannot continue as the sustainability of the tuna stocks and the fishing industry itself is under threat. Unless urgent and immediate action is taken, the fishing industry will simply fish itself and our oceans to death,' she added.

Taiwan is one of the largest tuna-catching nations in the world, with most of Taiwan's catch exported to Japan.