A recent story on the crisis looming with declining tuna stocks in the Western and Central Pacific, the last stronghold for tuna in the world, underlines the continuing pressure that industrial fishing is placing on ocean biodiversity and the severe and potentially catastrophic impact this crisis will have on communities that rely on healthy fish populations to feed their families.
And like, so many fisheries stories, this is not only an environmental and economic issue, but also a human rights issue.
Tuna is one of the most important food sources of island nations in the Western and Central Pacific. In Papua New Guinea, subsistence harvesting is the most important component of the domestic fishery in terms of both volume and value with up to 500,000 people participating in the coastal subsistence fishery.
Tuna is also a major source of export income for these island nations, despite the rather bad economic deal that has been negotiated on behalf of these nations. For a mere 5-6% license fee on the US$3 billion annual catch, a critical regional resource is quickly being depleted.
A healthy tuna fishery is more than just an economic trade issue. It is a human rights issue – the basic right to access to and control of a sustainable food supply.
Anecdotal information gleaned from coastal villagers in Madang and Morobe Provinces in January 2007 points towards a decline in local fish harvest, including skipjack tuna with fewer fish being caught and those that are caught smaller than historical accounts.
If tuna populations continue to vanish, people will be forced to find other food sources. In Africa, declining fish resources has led to documented increases in the bush meat trade – meaning declines in marine resources will force hungry people to put increasing pressure on terrestrial resources which are already under great stress from timber and mining operations.
Despite the writing on the wall, odds are that no action will be taken by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which, while it includes representation from Pacific nations, is dominated by the economic juggernauts of Japan and the United States, both of which are more interested in ensuring meeting short term needs for domestic fish products – high priced sushi and cheap canned tuna.
This sentiment is best summarized by Maurice Brownjohn of the Papua New Guinea Fishing Industry:
[The major fishing nations] are not interested in not bringing in any measures which would detrimentally affect their industry’s operations or cut the supply of raw materials for their processors.
So next time, you consider buying a can of tuna or a tuna sushi roll, think about the impact of your decision. Not only on the fish populations, but on the people in the coastal villages of Papua New Guinea and other island nations who if this trend continues will be staring at empty fishing nets and wondering how they will feed their families.
