24 August
2006 - Marseille, France — (UPDATED) The port
of Marseille is refusing to let our flagship,
the Rainbow Warrior, dock and some French tuna
fishermen are in uproar - thanks to our work highlighting
widespread overfishing and illegalities in the
Mediterranean tuna industry.
Since May, the Rainbow Warrior
has been documenting the state of the Mediterranean
Sea, including the activities of Spanish, French,
Italian, Turkish and Japanese bluefin tuna fishing
vessels.
What we found is overfishing
on a massive scale, and an industry that routinely
ignores quotas and regulations. An estimated 45,000
tons of tuna was taken from the Mediterranean
last year - while the legal quota is only 32,000
tons. French, Libyan and Turkish tuna fisherman
all stand accused of illegally fishing over their
quotas, and some French fisherman have even admitted
as much to the media. No wonder the bluefin tuna
stock here is in such a dire state.
As Stephan Beaucher of Greenpeace
France put it, "Leading scientists and environmental
groups agree that the blue fin tuna stock is on
the verge of collapse in the Mediterranean as
a result of over fishing."
The confrontation
Because governments and industry
won't tackle the issue, we were taking our message
direct to the people of France. But the government
of Marseille and the tuna industry don't want
our message heard, and are doing everything they
can to keep us from even coming into port.
Back on June 27th, we were granted
permission to dock in Marseille, but this week
that permission was revoked for "technical
and security reasons" (with no further explanation).
As the Rainbow Warrior approached the port, over
20 industrial fishing vessels surrounded it. Our
ship dropped anchor about a mile out. Now, we're
ferrying journalists out by boat to talk to them
about the sorry state of the bluefin tuna stock,
and the need for marine reserves in the Mediterranean.
"These fisherman may have
dirty secrets to hide," said Karli Thomas
by phone from the deck of the Rainbow Warrior,
"But they won't let them stop us from bringing
the plight of the tuna to light."
Following an additional confrontation this morning
where tuna fishermen blockaded and boarded the
Rainbow Warrior as well as fire hosing its crew;
our ship is now being towed out of France's 12
mile territorial zone by the French authorities.
"The tuna fishermen are
out of control on the high seas and now they are
out of control in port,” said Karli Thomas, on
board the Rainbow Warrior. "These industrial
tuna fishermen blockading us need to take responsibility
for their part in the depleted state of the Mediterranean
tuna fishery and look at the bigger picture."
"The Rainbow Warrior has
broken no laws and the source of the tension is
coming from the French tuna fisherman," said
Mike Finken, captain of the Rainbow Warrior. "The
Rainbow Warrior is capable of leaving under its
own propulsion and as we made clear yesterday
it had planned to do so at 6pm today to set sail
for Spain to continue Greenpeace’s campaign to
raise awareness of the threats facing the Mediterranean
Sea."
Thomas continued, "They
should support our call for establishment of a
network of marine reserves to bring about a sustainable,
healthy and productive Mediterranean Sea. It is
in the long term interests of the environment
and all fishing communities, both in France and
the rest of the Mediterranean."
