KEY POINTS:
Urgent measures to save falling stocks of tuna in the world's second-biggest tuna fishery, the eastern Pacific, must be initiated at a key international meeting this week, conservationists are demanding.
Environmental groups are warning that closures of the fishery, both by area and by time, must be brought in to protect tumbling Pacific populations of skipjack and bigeye tuna.
They are calling on the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) to follow the advice of its own scientists and adopt forceful conservation measures at its annual meeting in Panama City.
Tuna stocks around the world are dwindling because of fishing pressure which is increasing due to the high value of the catch.
The Pacific Islands fishery is the world's biggest, taking more than 1.2 million tonnes of tuna annually, with the eastern Pacific second, with a yearly catch of more than half a million tonnes. But the latter's regulatory body is failing in its job, say the US-based green groups.
In the past, disagreement among the IATTC's 16 member states has blocked the consensus necessary to bring binding conservation resolutions, but the situation facing tuna stocks is increasingly serious, they say, stressing that the commission now has an opportunity to reverse a trend of inaction and take concrete steps to stop the decline.
"Bigeye and yellowfin tuna populations are falling and the average size of captured fish is shrinking, a clear sign that those tuna are in dire need of conservation measures," the environmental groups say.
Action must be taken now, the groups say. Scott Henderson, director of marine conservation at Conservation International, said: "Despite a clear legal mandate and declining tuna stocks, three international meetings of the IATTC held over the past year have failed to produce measures to protect the very resource upon which not only the tuna industry, but the health of the Pacific marine ecosystem depends."
"The IATTC once had an enviable track record of following scientific advice, conserving tuna populations and tackling major conservation issues like dolphin mortality," said Bill Fox, the WWF's vice-president of fisheries. "It needs to recapture that spirit and dedication."
Meghan Jeans, Pacific fish conservation manager for Ocean Conservancy, said: "The health of the ocean environment, the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks and the interests of many are being put at risk by the short-sighted self interests of a few."
Humane Society International's vice president Kitty Block said: "As it currently stands, there's every incentive to block consensus and none to reach it. If, instead, the fishery was shut down until consensus is reached, member countries would undoubtedly work harder to agree on effective management measures."
- INDEPENDENT
