BOATS GATHER IN NEW ZEALAND FOR ENDANGERED SOUTHERN BLUEFIN TUNA KILL

MV Arctic Sunrise - 11 April 1997

Greenpeace today condemned a new charter agreement which sees five Japanese longliners joining New Zealand vessels fishing for the endangered southern bluefin tuna in New Zealand waters this month.

Five charter longliners have docked for bunkering in Auckland over the past month in preparation for an industrial-scale fishing operation in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone. These floating factories will specifically target the endangered southern bluefin tuna.

Greenpeace called for the suspension of the charter agreement between New Zealand fishing company Solander Fisheries and the Japan New Zealand Tuna Company, and reiterated its call for a global suspension of the bluefin tuna fishery.

"The arrival of these vessels shows that the race for the last southern bluefin tuna is on," said Cristina Mormorunni, Greenpeace Ocean Ecology Campaigner.

The breeding stock of Southern bluefin tuna has been reduced to 2% of its original population levels in approximately thirty years. The situation is so severe that the World Conservation Congress (IUCN) recently listed southern bluefin tuna as "critically endangered".

"Every year, thousands of kilometres of lines and millions of hooks blanket the southern oceans. The endangered southern bluefin tuna and many species of albatross don't stand a chance," Mormorunnni added.

Conservative estimates suggest that Japanese longline fleets kill a minimum of 44,000 albatrosses each year (Brothers, N., 1991).

The launch of Greenpeace's campaign to prevent the collapse of the endangered southern bluefin tuna fishery by implementing a suspension on fishers of all nations has elicited a strong response from the Japan Tuna Federation. In a fax to Greenpeace, Yuichiro Harada of the Federation described Greenpeace's campaign as "inappropriate", as "Southern bluefin tuna is not endangered." He urged Greenpeace not to proceed with its efforts.

"The Japan Tuna Federation response is illustrative of the politics of greed which placeshort-term economic gain above the long-term needs of the environment and people's livelihoods. If the fishery for southern bluefin tuna continues, the Japan Tuna Federation will, like the New Zealand bluefin tuna industry, be fishing itself into extinction," said Cristina Mormorunni.

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For further information:

Cristina Mormorunni on board the MV Arctic Sunrise +872 324 453810 (Inmarsat - NZ$10 a minute)

Glyn Walters Greenpeace New Zealand +64 (09) 630 6317 or +64 (025) 931 363

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