Governments fail to clamp down on overfishing, warn Greenpeace

Mass fishing methods put yellowfin tuna at risk Large countries are putting several tuna species at risk of overfishing, Pacific Island nations and environmentalists have warned on Thursday. The region has seen a decline in the populations of bigeye. Yellowfin skipjack and albacore tuna due to unrestrained industrial fishing and harmful fishing methods, according to Greenpeace. The alarm bell was raised on Sunday during a week-long tuna fisheries conference in Manila.
The Pacific Ocean produces more than 60 percent of the tuna catch worldwide. The meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which regulates commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean, aimed at regulating overfishing to protect endangered species.
Lagi Toribau, head of the Greenpeace delegation to the WCPFC, said that the conference was a disaster for the Pacific: \"The governments here should be held accountable for failing to protect vulnerable species that form the backbone of many economies in the Pacific, and provide food and livelihoods to coastal communities across the region. The big corporate players won and will continue their plunder for short-term profits at the expense of our oceans’ health.\"  
Greenpeace have deplored the outcome of the conference, which in the organisation’s view is not enough to protect the tuna population in the Pacific Ocean.
Giant fishing companies use “fish aggregation devices” (FAD) in order to catch the largest number of fish possible. Tunas (and other non-targeted species) are lured into a giant circular net. When the net is full, the vessel withdraws the net from the sea, dragging its content with it. Fishing giants and environment conservationists have fought for years in order to find a compromise to preserve the species without losing profits.