25 Apr 2006

Greenpeace calls for renewed efforts to combat pirate fishing

5:33 am on 25 April 2006

The environmentalist organisation, Greenpeace, has called on renewed efforts to combat pirate fishing.

It says that an estimated 1,300 vessels were involved in large scale illegal fishing in 2001.

Greenpeace says too little is done to stop illegal activities by fishing boats from China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the European Union.

A Fiji-based Greenpeace spokesperson, Nilesh Goundar, says pirate fishing involves the transfer at sea of illegally caught fish to licensed vessels.

"The responsibility of these foreign fishing states to ensure that when these vessels return to these countries their log books are to be checked and cross checked with the registry of Forum fisheries agency and the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission."

Fiji-based Greenpeace spokesperson Nilesh Goundar.