A 2010 report warned that fish stocks in the Pacific Ocean could collapse by 2035. (Photo: YouTube, GreenpeaceVideo/FIS)

US, Australia asked for help to fight overfishing in Pacific

NEW ZEALAND
Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 23:50 (GMT + 9)

New Zealand is asking the US and Australia to enlist in its efforts to save the Pacific Ocean fisheries before it is too late. Foreign Minister Murray McCully said time is of the essence and that concerted efforts must be undertaking to stop the illegal fishing that is jeopardising tuna and other fish populations.

"I believe the time has come for New Zealand, the US and Australia to dramatically step up our collective surveillance activity in the region to provide a comprehensive assault on illegal activity," he affirmed.  

"[The Pacific is] the last major fishery on the planet that has not been exploited beyond the point of sustainability."

Right now, New Zealand is the main provider of aerial surveillance of Pacific Island economic exclusion zones (EEZ). Although the US Coast Guard (USCG) is also a strong contributor to this surveillance, McCully insisted that additional efforts would prove powerful.

"I think there are some specifics that will be worked out over time between the appropriate defence and Coast Guard officials on both sides," responded Washington's Assistant Secretary of State for the region Kurt Campbell, reports NZ Herald.

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McCully spoke at the US-NZ Partnership Forum in Christchurch and pointed out that more than NZD 300 million (USD 228.9 million) worth of fish are being stolen yearly through illegal fishing, reports BBC.

"[We] have a major responsibility to our neighbours to ensure that sustainable management practises are put in place soon," he continued. "We are fast running out of time."

Even though an estimated NZD 1.5 billion (USD 1.1 billion) in legal fishing occurs annually in economic zones declared by Pacific states, those states do not have the capacity to run the amount of surveillance required to protect the fisheries involved.

McCully noted that the strides made by poachers in profitable tuna grounds are particularly injurious to impoverished Pacific communities, some of which are "facing sub-Saharan levels of poverty."

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He also said that the US is a significant player in the fishing within local waters and that its Tuna Treaty – now being renegotiated - is worth about NZD 32 million (USD 24.4 million) to the Pacific.

As well, McCully mentioned other challenges facing the region: the lack of progress towards democracy in Fiji, drug smuggling and tsunamis.

A 2010 report warned that fish stocks in the Pacific Ocean could collapse by 2035 if steps are not taken to attend to the exacerbating problems of overfishing, population growth and climate change.

Related articles:

- WCPFC meeting leads to cuts in bluefin tuna fishing for 2011-12 
- Environmental group calls for worldwide boycott of bluefin tuna 
- Pacific fisheries face collapse by 2035: study 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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