Tuna tales: a freezing Fijian reports from Korea
Photo ©Greenpeace/Hilton
Lagi Toibau posts this update from Korea:
For someone coming from the tropics, not used to putting on four layers of clothes every day, and having never seen snow before, working here in Korea has been a lifetime experience. Oh it is cold!
I'm here travelling in Seoul, the capital, and Busan the second largest city in Korea, to launch our campaign to save the Pacific tuna stocks from overfishing. We're working jointly with the excellent support and leadership of our partner organisation – the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM), the biggest environmental Non-Governmental Organisation in Korea.
What was really interesting for me is the limited understanding and how buried the tuna issue is in Korea. I came here with an expectation that most Asians including Koreans loved seafood so it would be easy for them to relate to the problems tuna are facing.
We've had a lot of attention and curiosity from people we've encountered about just how their government could be so heavily involved in the plunder and overfishing of this important fishery that belongs to a wide range of Pacific island communities.
I would have thought that Koreans would be more aware of its Pacific neighbours given our geographical placements, but there's quite a bit of surprise when I mention that 20 island countries are shared owners of the Pacific tuna fishery.
It was a great pleasure to talk and share my experience of the way the Pacific works and just how important tuna is for not only our governments but important to our people who depend on this resource as a source of livelihood.
We drove some media attention to the issue with two press conferences organised by KFEM -- we succeeded in getting the tuna issue on the front page on their main national paper and media interviews are still on-going – way to go!
We are pretty adamant that more Koreans will be aware of the magnitude of the global fisheries crisis and certainly the urgent need to help in saving the future of the Pacific tuna fisheries.
And we hope that the Korean government will be pressured and in the spot light as host country for the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Busan, Korea from the 8th -12th of December – this joint tuna campaign with KFEM has just started and there are more battles to fight.
The main highlight of the week for me was a little bit of street theatre we did on the seaside in Busan. Just Picture –5°c with very strong frosty seaside wind -- and this warm blooded Pacific islander in an open-ended tuna suit jumping around and posing for media shots for a full half an hour. Around me a school of Korean activists all with tuna heads holding banners reading – “Korea Stop Tuna Overfishing”. We were chanting in Korean and English which added to the chilly swell of excitement.
Oh how I longed for the warmth of my country in this nippy weather BUT than the thought of the future of tuna in the Pacific gave me extra strength. Sari my Finnish colleague who is so used to the cold and loves snow gave me a boost when she mentioned that in Finland she is used to –30°c to –40°c so this is really nothing.
The commitment we share, the diverse environments and cultures we operate in with this line of work all driven by the same desire and passion is the most breathtaking sensation that puts me to bed at night knowing how many people (and who would have thought – even Koreans!!!!) who care so much about my future and my people. What a divine feeling.
Thumbs up to KFEM for a successful launch and watch out Korea – the big EYE tuna is coming.
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Comments
Way to go Lagi! Keep up the great work. Hats off to you & Sari for alerting the media there. Now that Korea is the proud owner of the "Starkist Tuna" label, they might be out to catch the "Last One". I hope & pray that Korea will want to fish with SUSTAINABLE tuna methods such as the "Troll & Pole" method, instead of using driftnets. Please ask them to BAN driftnets, Lagi. Maybe you’re the one they'll listen to!
Your in our prayers, Bula Vinaka from John-boy & Alisi
P.S. maybe we'll see you at the meeting
Posted by: john-boy | November 22, 2008 4:38 AM