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Greenpeace Frees Pacific Marine Life

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Pacific Ocean, Saturday, May 3 2008: Today Greenpeace freed sharks, tuna, marlin and an endangered Olive Ridley turtle from the hooks of a Taiwanese longline vessel fishing in the international waters of the Pacific.

The activists encountered Taiwanese longliner, the Ho Tsai Fa 18, while it was hauling tens of kilometres of fishing line. The activists asked the Captain to release all marine life hooked on the lines and painted “PIRATE?” on the hull of the ship because the vessel had a previous record of controversial landing of shark fins.

Pacific activist, Ana Jitoko, held banners calling for “Marine Reserves Now!” and “Taiwan Pacific Tuna Destroyer” in front of the vessel.

”The Captain refused to free the fish and marine life, so we started to do so. and also confiscated a radio beacon (3). Following this, the Captain agreed to free all marine life from the hooks himself in exchange for return of the beacon,” said Miss Jitoko.

[…]

According to scientists, overfishing of both bigeye and yellowfin tuna is putting recently- healthy tuna stocks in jeopardy. Longlining is also killing thousands of turtles and at least a million sharks each year in the Central and Western Pacific alone - and 50 million sharks globally each year.

“We painted ‘PIRATE?’ on the side of the vessel because even registered tuna vessels like this one take advantage of loopholes between legal and illegal fishing. Authorities cannot be sure to what degree this vessel has engaged in pirate fishing activities”, said Greenpeace Lead Campaigner Lagi Toribau on board the Esperanza.

“Greenpeace confiscated the fishing gear and freed fish, sharks and the turtle because the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) - which is supposed to protect tuna and sharks from overfishing and protect endangered species - is failing to do so. If the WCPFC will not do their job and secure the future of this important marine life, then we will,” said Toribau.

[…]

Greenpeace wants to see these biodiversity rich areas of international waters set aside as the world’s first high seas marine reserves where no fishing is allowed. After the activists freed all the catch on the lines the Captain of the Ho Tsai Fa 18 agreed to leave the area Greenpeace is defending as marine reserves. The Captain agreed to fish only inside the waters of the Pacific Island countries where they hold a valid licence and would be better controlled.

[…]

The Pacific provides approximately 60 per cent of the world’s tuna and each year foreign fishing fleets rake in over US$3 billion from the sale of Pacific’s tuna to markets in Asia, Europe and the USA. Pacific nations are being ripped off only receiving 5-6 per cent of the value of the catch caught by foreign vessels in their national waters. This is because of the unfair and unsustainable agreements negotiated by foreign companies and countries for access to fish for tuna in their waters.

“Greenpeace is asking the Pacific coastal states with these unfair and unsustainable agreements to reduce and control access to their tuna by closing off these areas of international waters as marine reserves and halving the overall amount of fishing in the region. This also means that retailers around the world should stop buying tuna from unsustainable, unfair and illegal sources”, concludes Toribau.

Greenpeace advocates the creation of a network of marine reserves, protecting 40 per cent of the world’s oceans, as the long-term solution to overfishing and the recovery of our overexploited oceans.

Full Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand

Historic Firsts for Polar Bear and Wolf

It’s only Tuesday, but it’s already a historic week for endangered species protection.

On Monday evening a federal judge rebuked the Bush administration for delaying a decision on whether to protect the polar bear while rushing to approve oil and gas drilling in its Arctic habitat.

And on Monday morning the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit to stop the slaughter of gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Polar Bear Protection Delay Ended

In a court order issued yesterday, Judge Claudia Wilken sided with the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace against the Bush administration. Bringing the government’s irrational and illegal protection delays to an end, Wilken gave it just two weeks to decide whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. In addition, she ordered the decision to become effective immediately instead of being delayed by the usual 30 days.

The Bush administration has been rushing out Arctic oil and gas leases at the same time it has delayed deciding whether to declare the polar bear an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Making the decision immediately effective May 15 will ensure that all future oil and gas decisions take into account the polar bear and global warming.

Read more about it in the Washington Post and USA Today.

This is our best chance to save the polar bear and get a grip on global warming. Please sign our petition now urging the Secretary of the Interior to list the polar bear as an endangered species. Then forward the petition (or this email) to 10 friends. Together we can create an unstoppable wave of public support to save the Arctic.

Suit Filed to Stop Wolf Slaughter

Since the Bush administration removed gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list last month, dozens have been slaughtered by hunters and government agents in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Stepping into the fray, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, and other groups filed suit Monday morning to stop the slaughter. We’re asking that the wolf be returned to the endangered species list and that the slaughter be stopped immediately.

Read more about it in Backpacker and the National Post.

Sincerely,

Kierán Suckling
Executive Director

Toxic Tea Party

23 July 2007 - Tea made with imported water and a dark, murky tea made with polluted local water. The local water makes the tea turn black, probably due to the horrific groundwater pollution from Guiyu’s e-waste yards.

Guiyu, China — Welcome to the Guiyu tea ceremony. Boss Guo sets a pair of thimble sized tea cups on a ceremonial tray. He half fills one of the tiny cups with bottled, drinkable water. In to the other he pours water from the well in his backyard. Then he fills both up with steaming Chinese tea. The cup with bottled water turns a healthy amber. The one with the well water instantly converts to an impenetrable black.
Guo, a brash young man dressed in a purple polyester suit and white shirt, doesn’t know why. He says he sees no connection between the stacks of dismembered electrical equipment behind us in his workshop and the strange quality of his water. Still he won’t drink the black tea. “We won’t even shower with that water,” he says.

Guiyu, near China’s southeastern coast is the centre of an uncontrolled environmental disaster. Here and in several nearby townships, electronic waste, most of it imported, is broken up in small workshops. It’s a version of outsourcing that saves wealthier countries the high cost of disposing of their electronic trash. In this part of China recycling e-waste is apparently free of any environmental or health and safety regulation.

Read the rest of the story on: Greenpeace

Take action: Challenge the major companies in the electronics industry to be the first to create a greener computer without the worst toxic chemicals.

Donate: We never allow ourselves to be fed by a hand we might want to bite. Not accepting corporate donations means we rely entirely on people like you to help keep us going. Some of our corporate targets spend in a few hours what we spend in an entire year. Please help with anything you can.

Global warming and Greenpeace ads

Global warming action by Instituto Akatu. Miniatures of famous monuments were placed inside large aquariums scattered throughout the city, alerting for problems with global warming.

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Brazil
Creative Director: Ruy Lindenberg
Art Director: Paulo Areas
Copywriter: Guilherme Facci
Published: January 2007

“If you and every other household in U.S. replaced just one roll of paper towels with 100% recycled ones, we could save 554,000 trees. Greenpeace”

Advertising School: Miami Ad School, Miami, USA
Copywriter: Jen Nagy
Art Director: Dave Brown
Instructor: Jamie Webb

Source: Ads of the world