NAIROBI (Reuters) – Greenpeace has uncovered widespread use of illegal driftnets in the northwestern Indian Ocean, which is said to be decimating marine life in one of the world’s most ecologically vulnerable fishing grounds.
For two weeks at sea, the environmental organization says it filmed seven boats less than 50 square miles with driftnets to catch tuna. He detected eight other ships on the radar using navigation patterns that also suggested the use of networks.
“If bluefin tuna continues to decline at the current rate, food security in the region, as well as in local economies, will be very successful,” Greenpeace said.
Nets were banned by the United Nations 30 years ago, called “walls of death” because of the amount of other marine life they catch in addition to the intended fish.
Greenpeace shared images with Reuters of sharks and blanket stripes that had died on the nets, located about 800 kilometers east of Somalia. “Due to by-catch problems, we are concerned about all fish in the Indian Ocean,” he said, adding that a large increase in unregulated squid fishing has also been seen in the same area.
“What sense does the UN ban on driftnets make when all the fishing boats we saw use driftnets?” asked Will McCallum, head of oceans at Greenpeace UK, in comments to Reuters.
“There is little or no application to international waters … We need a global treaty on the oceans … to bridge this huge governance gap.”
Nations are due to meet in August to negotiate this pact, designed to try to establish guarantees for parts of the ocean similar to land-based reserves.
Last month, representatives from 30 nations met to discuss ways to save rapidly depleting tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean. The meeting ended without any new agreement.
Report by Katharine Houreld and Maggie Fick; edited by John Stonestreet