American and Taiwanese activists with Greenpeace occupied one of Taiwan's largest shipyards Friday morning, accusing the Taiwanese government of “undermining” international agreements designed to curb overfishing worldwide.
According to a release from the group, activists hung a banner at the Kaoshiung Shipyard that read “Overfishing Starts Here.” The group accused the government's fisheries agency of allowing its industry to build more and larger fishing vessels, even after the agency agreed in 2008 to limit the number of fishing days for its purse-seine tuna fleets.
“Our oceans and the billions dependent on them for food and jobs need fewer massive boats and more fish. The Taiwanese government is cheating international agreements and Greenpeace is taking peaceful action today to demand it adhere to scientific advice and help end overfishing,” said Yu Fen Kao, Greenpeace East Asia senior oceans campaigner. “In the end, it is the small-scale fishing communities and the people of Taiwan that will suffer most from empty oceans and collapsed fish populations.”
Greenpeace noted that the watchdog group International Union for Conservation of Nature labels some species of tuna as endangered already. According to the Union's website, both albacore and yellowfin tuna are listed as “near threatened” with a decreasing population. The site also lists Atlantic bluefin tuna as “endangered,” with a decreasing population.
Greenpeace is in the middle of what it calls its “Save Our Oceans East Asia Tour” to raise overfishing awareness.
"We have too many boats in our oceans chasing too few fish. Government and business leaders must end the madness and stop building these gigantic boats from fishing the industry out of existence,” said Sari Tolvanen, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner. “We need action from consumers, who will refuse to buy fish from companies that are adding more unsustainable fishing capacity into our oceans and instead demand fish for the future.”
