Bula, My name is Ronetava Ronaivakulua and I’m from an island in the South Pacific called Fiji. I’m currently onboard the Rainbow Warrior 2 on its East Asia Ocean Defenders tour in Taiwan,
I’m here as a representative of Fiji and also the South Pacific to voice our concern on tuna overfishing and the protection of our oceans and its fast depleting marine resources. I am also here because I fully support the goal of this ship tour which is to seek the support of the Taiwanese government and its fishing industry in sustainable fishing practices.
These involves and is not limited to; reduction of fishing vessel, banning the use of wasteful FADs in purse seine fisheries and the establishment of marine reserves.
The success of this ship tour and our East Asia oceans campaign is immeasurable to the South Pacific countries because Taiwan has the largest tuna fishing fleet in the world. If the decision makers and the people of Taiwan do realize and accept the importance of sustainable fishing, together with other Asian fishing powers in the
region then the South Pacific countries would have a relatively healthy fishing ground for years to come. The Western and Central Pacific Ocean is the world largest tuna fishery and Taiwan has an opportunity here to be one of the first “fishing power” to implement and support Greenpeace goals on this ship tour. I would also think that Taiwanese would be like us from the South Pacific as we depend on the ocean for our survival. If our marine resources such as tuna would be extinct then our loss would be catastrophic both for our marine ecology and economically as well.
It’s never too late to learn but sometimes we learn when it’s too late. We must act now for the preservation of our ocean and fishery. There needs to be halving of tuna catches, and the creation of marine reserves in international waters that lie between the Pacific Island Country national waters. John James Audubon once said that “A true
conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”. In light of these words let us remember that our resources are not infinite and that we as a people needs to be more responsible guardians for our future generations. We hope to recruit many new ocean defenders here in
Taiwan to ensure sustainable fisheries and healthy oceans for all of us.
Every tuna brand can stop this devastation by refusing to sell tuna caught using destructive methods Please send an email to Australian tuna brands and tell them to use sustainably and equitably-caught tuna.
