Purse seine fishing plummeting New Zealand tuna supply
By Michael Morrah
Mon, 16 Aug 2010 6:45p.m.
Conservationists are calling on the Government to support the closure of high sea fisheries in the Pacific to industrial fish netting. Two areas have already been closed because of concerns about illegal fishing and plummeting tuna stocks. Now island nations are trying to do more to stop the problem. It is called purse seine fishing, an industrial method that plunders the Pacific of tuna. The problem is the nets trap juvenile fish and other non-target species like sharks. In the process of targeting skipjack tuna they kill a lot of the baby big eye and yellow fin which contributes to the overfishing. The insatiable world demand for tuna has also affected charter operators in New Zealand. “Twenty years ago out from Whakatane you’d get a thousand yellow fin tuna in a season,” says Andrew grant, owner of Ultimate Charters. “…these days if you catch one tuna in a season it’s a bit of a surprise.” …
