17 Sep 2007

Greenpeace calls for more assistance for Pacific nations over illegal fishing

6:23 am on 17 September 2007

Greenpeace says developed countries must help to empower Pacific nations to enable them to stand up to pirate fishing.

Greenpeace is again calling for more surveillance, funding and training to combat illegal fishing in the region and to help small island nations to use their resources better.

A Greenpeace representative, Nilesh Goundar, says Australia and New Zealand are committed to supporting Pacific nations.

But Mr Goundar says they must do more.

"What we would like to urge them to do is to bolster regional solidarity so that the Pacific islands can stand up to the distant water fishing nations, like Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, who are plundering the Pacific, taking all our tuna, at very unfair return to the Pacific islands."

Nilesh Goundar says illegal fishing accounts for twenty percent of the world's catch.