Empty Seas,
Empty Future

Empty Seas, Empty Future
Greenpeace International

Fishing is an ancient human tradition and for most people is linked to images of fishermen braving the elements to catch a few fish for market. But in the last 50 years, fishing has been transformed into a hi-tech global industry that has the power to radically alter marine ecosystems. All around the world overfishing and destructive fishing practices are destroying fish harvests, damaging marine ecosystems and threatening the economic stability of tens of millions of people.

Cod Collapse - It Could Happen Here

In 1992 the unimaginable happened: one of the world's most productive fisheries, the Canadian cod fishery, collapsed, a victim of the global fisheries crisis. This legendary resource was deemed inexhaustible and had been fished without interruption for nearly 500 years. The immediate impact threw 40,000 people out of work and cost the Canadian public C$2 billion. The long-term social and ecological costs have yet to be assessed. It remains closed today.

The Oceans Sustain Us But We Are Not Sustaining Them

There is no question that the diversity of life in the world's oceans has been dramatically altered by overfishing. Greenpeace is successfully campaigning around the world to stop this plunder. It is not too late to turn the fisheries crisis around. But if governments are to avoid a global catastrophe, they need to stop arguing over who is going to catch the last fish and take immediate action to protect fish and marine ecosystems.

The Mighty Giants of the Southern Seas

Not far off the coastlines of New Zealand and Australia two extraordinary migratory animals face an imminent threat to their survival. Both - one a fish and the other a bird - have become inextricably linked by the enormous profits to be made selling a high-priced seafood delicacy to lucrative markets thousands of miles away. The Southern bluefin tuna is the high-priced target, while several species of albatross and petrel are the accidental victims of a global fishing operation that stretches thousands of kilometres across their migratory routes.

Each year, millions of deadly baited hooks are set in the Southern Ocean luring tens of thousands of birds and fish to their deaths. As a result, populations of bluefin tuna and several species of albatrosses and petrels are plummeting at alarming rates. While the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Japan are co-operating in the management of the Southern bluefin fishery, other fishing nations such as Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea are operating without restraint, wreaking untold havoc on the tuna and seabirds alike.

No government is willing to call a halt to the tuna fishery, despite the bluefin's threatened status and the high level of seabird slaughter in the fishery.

Southern Bluefin Tuna in Crisis

Sadly the Southern bluefin tuna population today is so severely depleted that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature recently listed the species as "critically endangered" on its Red List of endangered species.

Massive overfishing in the 1960s and 1970s outstripped Southern bluefin tuna's ability to naturally replace itself and maintain healthy population levels. Today the species is on the verge of collapse. Scientists estimate that overfishing has reduced bluefin to only 2-5% of its original population levels and predict that if current fishing levels continue the species only has a 15% chance of recovery by the year 2020. As dire as this prediction sounds, it is likely that the reality will be far bleaker. Recent scientific studies found that the rate at which bluefin is recovering has been over-estimated by up to 60%.

The End of the Line for the Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery

Southern bluefin tuna are caught around New Zealand, Australia and the Southern Ocean. The New Zealand fishery is primarily a longline fishery. Since the 1950s most of the fishing has been done by foreign vessels under charter or licence arrangements. As of 1991 though, a growing number of domestically owned and operated vessels have been longlining for these fish. lt. is estimated that in New Zealand waters 2000 gear sets are used each year, with 300-3000 hooks on each set

The number of vessels in the fleet has) increased from 39 in 1994 to an estimated 52 vessels in 1995. The Australian fishery is a combination of longlining and purse seine netting, with most of the Australian quota taken by the South Australian purse seine fleet Currently, there are 91 vessels licensed to fish in the Australian Southern bluefin tuna fishery.

Tuna Biology

Living up to 40 years, weighing as much as 200 kilograms and measuring two metres in length, the Southern bluefin tuna is not only a magnificent creature of the deep, but a critical part of the marine ecosystem.

A highly migratory species, Southern bluefin tuna travel thousands of kilometres from their spawning grounds south of Indonesia, down the west coast of Australia, and then follow one of two migratory paths: west across the Indian ocean towards South Africa and on into the Atlantic ocean, or east along the south coast of Australia and into the waters of Tasmania, New South Wales and New Zealand.

Southern bluefin tuna are warm blooded and require a continuous flow of oxygen in order to survive; they are in constant motion swimming their own body length every second. Their eyes form a smooth surface with the rest of their head and their side fins retract into special grooves, enabling them to swim at up to 70 Km/h.

Southern bluefin are important both as predators and prey, playing a crucial role maintaining the marine food web The young are a food source for sharks, seabirds, orcas and other tuna, while mature bluefin are the ocean's master hunters

Eat Fish Bait and Die

Thousands of albatrosses and petrels are being killed in longline fisheries around the world. These birds feed primarily on squid and fish - the main baits used in the bluefin tuna fishery and are attracted to fishing vessels as an easy source of food. The baited hooks are cast from the vessel and sink beneath the surface. The birds dive for the bait and swallow it, hook and all, and are pulled underwater and drowned.

New Zealand waters are home to more breeding populations of albatross than anywhere else in the world. In the last 20 years, approximately 65,000 albatrosses and petrels have been hooked and drowned in New Zealand waters alone. The New Zealand black-browed albatross, the Auckland Island wandering albatross, the grey-headed albatross and the grey petrel are some of the native species which are particularly at risk

Longline Fishing - What is it?

In the icy waters of the Southern Ocean a hi-tech war is being waged against the Southern bluefin tuna, and the tuna is losing. Forget those romantic images of the angler battling against the elements to bring home the fruits of the sea - visualise instead a large, steel-hulled ship equipped with video, sonar and satellite fish tracking systems, sea water temperature sensors, oceanographic colour display units and more. Imagine not human strength straining against mammoth fish, but a highly mechanised 24-hour fishing fleet that lays out enormous amounts of fishing line in 100 kilometre lengths, each carrying up to 3000 baited hooks. Every 10 or 12 kilometres along this aptly named 'longline' is a radio buoy, used to locate the line when the time comes to haul it in. Once the fish are caught, they are carefully brought alongside the vessel and lifted aboard. Wearing gloves, the crew quickly kill the fish, generally with a spike to the brain. The tuna is then laid on imitation grass mats or blankets to protect it from bruising which would reduce its high value in the Japanese market Thousands of sharks and other fish species that are accidentally hooked are simply thrown back into the sea dead or dying as the line is hauled in.

These great ocean wanderers fly thousands of kilometres in search of food. Once they've left the nest they spend between five and eight years at sea, feeding in key commercial fishing areas.

Six of the world's 14 albatross species are in rapid decline and longline fishing has been incriminated in each case. The biology of the birds further complicates their plight, as they are long-lived creatures that mate for life and do not reach breeding age until they are at least ten years of age. Only one chick is produced every one to three years, depending on the species, and is tended by both parents for at least nine months. Adult survival rates must be high to ensure chick survival and stable populations. If one of the adults dies it is more than likely that the chick will perish as well.

Dying for Dollars

Worth up to US$100 per kg on the Japanese market, it is clear why the Southern bluefin tuna fishery is allowed to continue, despite all evidence that the fishery and its innocent victims are disappearing fast The responsibility for this flagrant mismanagement falls squarely on the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, the international management body which was established in response to plummeting tuna stocks.

Aquaculture - Farming the Oceans

Tuna aquaculture or fish farming is a significant component of the Australian fishery for Southern bluefin tuna. The industry is based in Port Lincoln, South Australia where it began 1990. Young tuna under six months old are caught on route to their Southern Ocean feeding grounds in purse seine nets and towed many kilometres back to port. Purse seine netting is notorious for injuring or killing marine life. Once a school of tuna is found, a small boat carrying the end of a net is launched from the main seiner boat and moves to encircle the fish. The net is then "pursed" or drawn taut at the bottom with a heavy cable. Once the young bluefin tuna are brought back to port, they are held in large circular holding nets and fattened up for sale at premium prices in the Japanese market. There is little doubt that catching these fish before they reach breeding age has detrimental effects on the recovery and long-term sustainability of the Southern bluefin tuna population. Furthermore, it is unknown how many bluefin die while being caught and dragged to shore, or while in the pens.

What Is The Commission For The Conservation Of Southern Bluefin Tuna?

The Convention for the Conservation of Southern bluefin tuna was negotiated and signed into law in 1994, in response to dramatic declines in Southern bluefin tuna. The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) was then established to manage all aspects of the fishery. Although Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia also have substantial fisheries for bluefin, the CCSBT is currently a trilateral arrangement involving only New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

International management agreements of this sort may play an important role in sustaining fisheries for highly migratory species such as Southern bluefin tuna. Unfortunately, disagreement and dissension rather than co-operation have characterised the negotiations between the parties to the CCSBT so far.

For example, in 1996 Japanese scientists estimated that the probability of bluefin tuna recovering to critical biological levels by 2020 was 80%.The Australian and New Zealand scientists on the other hand felt that the likelihood of recovery was significantly less at 15% and 29% respectively. The continued political deadlock of the CCSBT raises serious questions about its ability to prevent the collapse of the Southern bluefin tuna fishery.

In September 1996, the CCSBT's annual meeting was adjourned without agreement reached on critical issues such as setting of quotas, systems needed to rectify seabird bycatch problems or Japan's demand for an additional "research" quota. At the resumption of the annual meeting in February 1997, it was revealed that approximately 40 Japanese vessels were caught illegally fishing off the Southwest coast of Australia after the season had officially ended. It is estimated that these vessels caught an additional 308 tonnes of Southern bluefin tuna.

A Failed Experiment?

Specific evidence of the CCSBT's failure to ensure a sustainable fishery for Southern bluefin tuna includes:

Stopping The Destruction Of The Southern Seas

There is no doubt that the fishery for Southern bluefin tuna is unsustainable. The established management system has done little to halt the bluefin's decline or prevent the accidental capture of seabirds and other marine life in the fishery. All the evidence suggests that neither Southern bluefin nor seabirds can sustain these pressures. Greenpeace proposes a global suspension of the Southern bluefin tuna fishery until:

Greenpeace believes that the Australian and New Zealand governrnents must lead the way in protecting Southern bluefin tuna and live up to their reputations as leaders in marine protection. It is imperative that a precautionary ecosystem approach is applied immediately to the Southern bluefin tuna fishery and underpins all future discussions and decisions within the CCSBT.

If You Eat Canned Tuna

The extremely high value of Southern bluefin tuna in the fresh fish market makes it highly unlikely that it would end up in a can, but there is a possibility that poor quality or damaged catch would be sold off for canning.

Ask your retailer to give you a guarantee that the cans they sell don't contain Southern bluefin tuna, ask them to show you or get you a written guarantee from their supplier.

If You Eat Tuna In Restaurants

The bulk of Southern bluefin tuna ends up in the Japanese market. Nevertheless, ask before you order and let the waiter know why you are asking.