Greenpeace warns of stolen Pacific tuna in European supermarkets
Amsterdam, 25 September, 2007 – Greenpeace today warned European supermarkets that they may be selling tuna stolen from the Pacific Ocean. Products from the companies Albacora, Calvopesca, Nirsa and
Conservas Garavilla, cannot be trusted; seven of eleven recently recorded illegal fishing incidents are directly linked to these tuna giants (1.) The companies sell tuna under the names Campos, Isabel, Garavilla, Atun Real, and Calvo and private supermarket brands, and can be found in most European countries including Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and France.
"Spanish fishing companies are selling stolen tuna to European supermarkets. Consumers have no idea that the tuna they buy may have been robbed from some of the world’s poorest communities" said Sari Tolvanen, Greenpeace International Oceans Campaigner.
"In order to avoid being complicit in illegal fishing, Supermarkets need to avoid products from these companies, and ensure that all seafood they sell can be traced to sustainable and legal sources".
Pirate fishing is a lucrative business, worth up to 6.5 billion euros a year globally. Depleted high value fish stocks, such as tuna and cod are particularly vulnerable. As tuna stocks decline across the world, the
tuna industry and pirates are moving further into the Western and Central Pacific.
Vessels licensed to fish in the Eastern Pacific are now pirate fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Kiribati (2). An estimated 300,000 tonnes of tuna are stolen from the Pacific every year, worth many times more than Pacific Island states earn in access fees and licenses.
"Pacific Ocean// tuna species – yellowfin and bigeye are already severely depleted/" said Lagi Toribau, Greenpeace Pacific Oceans Campaigner. "/Rich foreign seafood companies steal our fish, selling it
cheaply in Europe, the US and Asia, while the true cost is paid for by Pacific islanders. Not one cent is generated for communities here, and our main source of food is being stolen from our plates."
Greenpeace demands: a halving of all Tuna fishing in the Pacific in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the fisheries; a ban on all transshipments (offload of catch) at sea; and for the Pacific high seas "donut holes" (3) to be made into no-take marine reserves, to help fight piracy, and restore fish stocks and ecosystems.
