GREENPEACE CALLS ON MITSUBISHI TO STOP BUYING ILLEGAL FISH

17 December 1999

AMSTERDAM -- Greenpeace today called on the Japanese company, Mitsubishi, to stop trading in fish caught by pirate fishing vessels flying "flags of convenience" (FOCs), operating in violation of international law. Mitsubishi is a major supplier of tuna to the Japanese market - approximately 100,000 tonnes, according to a Mitsubishi spokesman.

"Illegal fishing can only be put out of business when companies, such as Mitsubishi, refuse to buy illegal catches," said Sanae Shida, Director of Greenpeace Japan, in a letter sent today to Mitsubishi's President, Mikio Sasaki. She urged Mitsubishi "to ensure that the fish they buy comes from legal and well managed fisheries."

The letter supports the 10 year effort by the Federation of Japan Tuna Co-operative Associations to convince Mitsubishi to stop trading in illegally caught tuna.

Many highly prized species of fish, such as bluefin tuna, have become severely depleted from overfishing worldwide. Unscrupulous fishing vessel owners are increasingly registering their ships to FOCs to escape international fisheries regulations designed to combat overfishing (1).

In March 1999, Fisheries Ministers from around the world issued a declaration calling for international action to combat illegal fishing, in particular FOC fishing, at a meeting of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. In November 1999, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the Rome declaration and called on all nations to prevent vessels fishing illegally on the high seas.

"It's an outrage that, for the past ten years, Mitsubishi has done nothing to stop this. The flood of illegally caught fish on the market will completely undermine the efforts by the government of Japan and other governments to conserve fish species and the environment," added Shida.

Greenpeace estimates that there are some 1200 fishing vessels in operation world-wide flying FOCs. Based on an analysis of information compiled by Lloyd's Maritime Service, the governments of Panama, Honduras, Belize and St Vincent and the Grenadines are the primary offenders, with approximately 1000 fishing vessels registered to fly their flags.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Sanae Shida, Executive Director Greenpeace Japan at: + 81 3 5351 5400
- Matilda Bradshaw, Greenpeace International press desk, Amsterdam, + 31 20 523 6608

(1) Countries issuing FOCs agree to ignore the activities of their fleets in exchange for a licensing fee. Under current international law, only the country that issues the flag can take enforcement action against a vessel that is fishing illegally on the high seas.

You can download our briefing paper on Pirate Fishing here (in pdf format).