Footage of marine life dying at the hands of industrial tuna fishers in the Pacific Ocean has created outrage around the world.
The Youtube video (shown below) which shows whales, marlin and ray being killed by tuna fishermen has had over 110,000 views since it was released by Greenpeace two weeks ago. The video release has received media coverage in Australia, Asia, Europe, the USA and Canada.
Greenpeace New Zealand Oceans Campaigner Karli Thomas said: "People are outraged by the obscene waste of ocean life shown in this footage."
The video was shot by a New Zealand helicopter pilot whilst working as a spotter for tuna boats in the Pacific in 2009. He filmed the vessels using fish aggregation devices (FADs) to lure the tuna and attracting a range of other creatures in purse seine nets.
Greenpeace are calling for an end to such practices in New Zealand saying that about 200,000 tonnes of this bycatch is caught annually by the global tuna industry’s destructive practices.
"That’s the equivalent of more than one billion cans of bycatch needlessly destroyed every year.
"Banning FADs in purse seine fisheries is an important step towards protecting the Pacific from destructive tuna fishing which is threatening tuna stocks and the region's food security and economic prosperity."
The last UK brand to use FADs – John West – dropped them earlier this year thanks to a campaign by 'Hugh’s Fishfight'.
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