We have the power to change the tuna industry for good

by Ephraim Batungbacal

 

One of New Zealand’s two main supermarket companies, Foodstuffs, introduced pole and line tuna to its homebrand range in 2011 following a Greenpeace campaign. © Nigel Marple

What comes to mind when you hear of tuna? Maybe you think of sushi bars, or something that comes in a can — even pet food.
Southeast Asia consumes a lot of canned tuna. Filipinos are fond of brands like Century Tuna, while Thais are familiar with Nautilus. But the majority of tuna consumers in the region are unaware of how the tuna was caught and where it was fished.
Consumers in Southeast Asia are becoming more aware of their rights and responsibilities as consumers. But with the critical state of the world’s oceans — from coral bleaching, to unsustainable fishing practices that endanger other marine mammals, to plastic pollution at sea — it’s time for everyone to care about how the ocean resources are managed.
Local consumers must demand that the tuna they are eating is free from environmental and social abuses.
This is where the Greenpeace cannery ranking report comes in. For almost three years now, Greenpeace has been ranking different tuna canneries and brands in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. It aims to provide information and guidance, not only for tuna companies, but to consumers as well. As the rest of Southeast Asia becomes aware of issues about traceability, sustainability and slavery at sea, this report provides information beyond what is seen on the label.

Diver Joel Gonzaga of the Philippine purse seiner ‘Vergene’ at work in and around a skipjack tuna purse seine net, using only a single air compressor hose to the surface. © Alex Hofford / Greenpeace

Catching tuna is a lucrative industry,  generating USD 42 billion per year, and provides thousands of jobs in the catching, processing, and trading sector worldwide. As a result, the fishing industry has become so powerful that it sometimes acts like it is above the law and beyond reproach.
The Philippines and Indonesia are among the top five tuna producers in the world, while Thailand is the biggest tuna processor, all selling tuna to major brands in key markets.
Indonesia and the Philippines also have the highest catches of juvenile (a.k.a.”baby”) tuna, with sizes ranging from 20-50 cm in length. Catching juvenile tuna doesn’t enable the fish population to grow and reproduce. Juvenile fishing is closely associated with fish aggregating devices (FADs) that are used by purse seiners — big boats with wide purse-like nets. If juvenile fishing is not addressed, there may be a shortage of larger Bigeye tuna supply and that will pose problems for the ecosystem and the tuna industry.

A mature sized yellowfin should be a meter long. Juvenile baby yellow fin and bigeye tuna are being traded at less than the average size of maturity and below the weight limit of 500g. © Pat Roque

The Greenpeace report also sheds light on the issue of “double standard” marketing of canneries and brands. Some tuna brands exercise stringent rules which cater to foreign markets abroad. So a can of tuna sold within Thailand will usually have little (if any) information on what kind of tuna is in the can. That same company may also sell another one of its more sustainably-sourced tuna products under a different label destined for the United States. As consumers in Southeast Asia begin to understand that they have the power to protect our oceans, the same sourcing standards and information available to consumers in domestic markets must apply.
After three years of continuous campaigning and collaborative dialogue in the region, we now have five companies with an overall Green rating, as opposed to virtually zero when we first started the regional ranking. While we’re happy there are now more companies catching tuna sustainably — good news for us and for our oceans — much work remains to be done.
Check out this year’s ranking, and help us hold brands accountable!
Ephraim Batungbacal is the Regional Oceans Research Coordinator for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, based in Manila.

#Climate

Justice for people and planet

Berta Cáceres next to the Gualcarque River, which she fought most of her life to defend from a destructive megadam project. © Goldman Environmental Prize

In the final days of her killers’ trial, Berta Cáceres’ daughter Laura stood before the court and said, “I must speak out today, even though I did not want to. Nobody really wants to speak when their mother has been murdered. But I must, because it is an injustice that we, her family, have not been allowed to participate in this process.”
More than two years after her assassination, a Honduran court has finally convicted seven men for the murder of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres. Among them are an active Honduran military official, hired assassins, and former employees of DESA, the company behind the Agua Zarca megadam that Berta spent her career opposing. They are expected to be sentenced in February 2019.
But despite the verdict, we must continue fighting in Berta’s memory. As her family, their lawyers, and human rights watchdogs have repeatedly decried, this trial has been marred from the beginning by barriers to justice. Lack of transparency, the arbitrary exclusion of Berta’s family and colleagues, and insufficient media attention have clouded what should have been an unmistakable message to companies and governments that threaten environmental activists.
And that’s a message we desperately need, because Berta’s murder was not an isolated incident. Every day, in every corner of the globe, companies and governments use violence and intimidation to silence those who use their voices to fight for the environment and human rights. According to Global Witness, at least 207 environmental defenders were killed in 2017 — up from 201 in 2016 and 154 in 2015. The real total is likely much higher due to the number of deaths that have gone unrecorded. Many of these defenders are, like Berta, Indigenous women.

Berta’s daughter Laura Zúñiga Cáceres speaks during a rally shortly following her mother’s murder in 2016. © Bob Simpson / Creative Commons

In 2015, Berta won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her peaceful opposition to the Agua Zarca project, which, if built, would threaten the livelihood of the Lenca Indigenous community. Less than a year later, she was murdered in her home in La Esperanza. The investigation into her murder revealed that it was planned and executed with DESA’s “full knowledge and consent” in order to eliminate her opposition to the megadam.
But this verdict only punishes those who took the orders, allowing the architects of Berta’s killing to remain free. In fact, Honduran officials have not even taken steps to identify those who planned and ordered her murder, let alone bring them to justice.
So we must not rest. Not until the masterminds of Berta’s assassination have been found and brought to justice, and the rights of environmental defenders around the globe are protected. While the outcome of this trial has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, I continue to draw inspiration from Berta’s family, her colleagues at COPINH, and her Lenca community, who continue to fight for their environment with love and dignity.
As Berta’s daughter Laura said before the court last week, “the fight for justice for my mother will not end here. We will continue to appeal until these institutions respond, as they should, with justice. We will not be passive victims. We will continue to act, because my mother and the Lenca people deserve it. Because even now they are still chasing us, and because the criminal enterprise that killed my mother is still active. This too, we are going to defeat.”
So, like Laura and the rest of Berta’s community, Greenpeace will continue to fight. Share this post with #JusticeForBerta if you’re going to fight, too.
Miguel Ángel Soto is a senior campaigner for Greenpeace Spain