More than 70 million tins of pole-and-line South Pacific skipjack tuna have been pre-ordered as part of Greenpeace’s online campaign to promote sustainable fishing practices, the environmental activist organization unveiled on Tuesday.
Greenpeace launched the campaign in April to promote skipjack harvested by environmentally friendly fishing methods, such as pole and line. The organization is trying to sway seafood buyers away from purse seine-caught skipjack, which it claims is unsustainable.
The campaign, which features a Web site, allows retailers and restaurateurs worldwide to pre-order skipjack tuna from only sustainable sources.
Tuesday’s announcement comes on the eve of the second annual Pacific Tuna Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where the future of the region’s tuna industry is being addressed.
“Pole-and-line fishing has a very low rate of bycatch, unlike purse seining and using fish aggregation devices,” said Sari Tolvanen, ocean campaigner for Greenpeace International. “Environmentally aware consumers who do not want to participate in ocean destruction are demanding tuna caught by pole and line, and the level of pre-orders in our petition shows that there is also a broader market value.”
