Southern Bluefin Tuna fleets endanger wildlife, warns WWF

Gland, Switzerland - Thousands of seabirds, and significant numbers of sharks and marine turtles, are caught and killed each year in long-line fisheries targeting Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT), reveals a new WWF report.

Japan's long-line SBT fleet killed between 6,000 and 9,000 seabirds per year in the 2001 and 2002 fishing seasons. About three quarters of the species taken were albatrosses, and one fifth petrels.

It's estimated the annual deaths of seabirds from all SBT fishing could be as high as 13,500, including about 10,000 albatrosses. Of the 22 species of albatrosses, 19 are classified as threatened with extinction according to the World Conservation Union.

SBT long-line fleets are fishing blind, with little or no understanding of their devastating impact on threatened species, says Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF's Global Marine Programme. Responsible countries must urgently implement measures to dramatically reduce the death toll.

The new report exposes ten years of inaction by members of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), and calls for reform measures to be agreed at their annual meeting in Australia next week to stem the catch of endangered wildlife and reduce chronic overfishing.

Southern Bluefin Tuna, a migratory fish found mainly in the southern waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is fished predominantly by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, and several other Asian countries. Long-line fishing fleets take around two-thirds of the reported catch of SBT.

Currently the Commission only requires the use of tori poles, devices used to scare away seabirds from fishing lines, whereas they should be calling for a whole suite of bycatch reduction measures to be enforced. adds Dr Cripps. CCSBT now lags well behind other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations' efforts to tackle bycatch.

The report urges members of the CCSBT to immediately agree mandatory requirements for the collection and submission of data on the impact of SBT fishing on non-target species and to ensure their on-board observer programme prioritise the collection of this data.

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