Greenpeace and Canned Tuna Truth Squad : In Their Own Words

What They Tell You About:

Pole and Line Fishing

Pole and line has the potential to be the cleanest and most environmentally-sound method of fishing skipjack. If conducted properly, its bycatch levels can be low, and because the fish are caught one by one the operation can be stopped at any stage if undersized fish are being hooked.

Developing Sustainable and Equitable Pole and Line Fisheries for Skipjack, April 2009

Pole and Line Fishing

What They're Not Telling You

Because pole and line fishing for tuna can only be conducted in coastal areas, it is far less efficient than current fishing methods. In addition, as tuna are migratory fish, deliveries from pole and line tuna fisheries are erratic and unreliable. It only supplies about 2 percent of global canned tuna considered acceptable by Greenpeace and it is impossible for it to supply anything more than a small fraction of global demand.

Switching to pole and line fishing for tuna would drive the price higher at a time when millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet and the USDA has recommended that Americans eat fish at least twice per week for optimum health. Increasing the use of pole and line fishing would put bait fisheries under tremendous strain, and could very well endanger those species. Why should we sacrifice the health of the bait fisheries to solve a problem that doesnt exist?

Switching to pole and line would mean larger fishing fleets that would consume more diesel fuel and emit larger amounts of pollution and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The Tough Questions:
Considering that pole and line fishing could never adequately meet the world's demand for canned tuna, why does Greenpeace continue to insist its the only sustainable option? Could it be that the groups goal is actually to completely remove canned tuna, an affordable lean protein available to consumers, from grocery store shelves?