The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

Fishing method leaves a bounty at risk

A tuna guru campaigns in the name of conservation.

Scientist Dr Tony Lewis supports the traditional pole-and-line method.
Scientist Dr Tony Lewis supports the traditional pole-and-line method.Supplied

Tony Lewis' love affair with tuna has spanned more than four decades, most of his working life as a fisheries scientist. He loves their beauty, their streamlined passage through the water, their adaptability. But most of all, he admires the way tuna have survived and prospered in the face of human efforts to over-exploit them.

"I have a great respect for them," he says. "They have colonised all the world's oceans and they've been around for millions of years, although they're not as old as crocs and sharks. And as beautiful as they are, they're magnificent to eat in so many forms – tuna steaks, sashimi and splendid cans of tuna."

Dr Lewis is something of a guru on the topic of tuna. Over the course of his long career, he has been a researcher in the biology, ecology and management of tuna and associated species throughout the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission region. He's also an adviser to the International Pole and Line Foundation, an organisation dedicated to developing sustainable and equitable pole-and-line fisheries.

Tuna guru: Dr Tony Lewis.
Tuna guru: Dr Tony Lewis.Supplied
Advertisement

This is an issue close to his heart because he believes it's the most environmentally friendly way of fishing. "It's one man, one pole and one fish," he explains. "It's quite remarkable and a world away from the agribusiness of purse seine net fishing."

Purse seine fishing uses giant nets to catch tuna. The nets sometimes trap and kill a range of other species and marine animals, including sharks, small whales and turtles in the process.

Pole-and-line fishing, the method embraced by Sirena, is still central to the way of life and income in large parts of Indonesia, the Maldives and the Pacific Islands.

"The only hope for pole and line is if the fish can achieve a high priority or status with consumers, if they can become like an heirloom product. Sirena does a great job of marketing it in that regard."

"It used to be like that in Australia and Japan but in the face of the more efficient technology of purse seine fishing, it's difficult to maintain pole-and-line fishing," he says.

Advertisement

That reality still rankles with the traditionalist deep in this scientist. A native of Brisbane, he grew up with a foot always in the sea or on the beach. He was zealous about surfing and fishing. "Fishing is therapy, a one-on-one communing with nature. I certainly was never interested in it for the killing or the sport. Half of the fish I caught I put back into the water."

In the 1970s, the early days of his career, he was based in PNG where a pole-and-line fishery was just beginning. He liked the sustainable aspects of the method.

Most of his research work has centred on tagging tuna to monitor their journeys and to establish where they were eventually caught. He has tagged more than 100,000 fish, and is probably the first person to achieve that milestone.

"They swim so fast that they have a high demand for oxygen," he explains. "They cannot be kept out of water for 30 seconds, so the tagging process had to be done in 10 seconds."

The economics of purse seine net fishing has put line-and-pole fishing under pressure. "The only hope for pole-and-line is if the fish can achieve a high priority or status with consumers, if they can become like an heirloom product,'' he says. "Sirena does a great job of marketing it in that regard."

Advertisement

The company, which has been supplying tuna products to Australia for nearly 60 years, is committed to sourcing 100 per cent of its tuna across all product ranges from fish caught only with poles and lines because of its conviction that it is the most sustainable method of commercial tuna harvesting.

Although it had hoped to reach that target by 2016, the company managed to achieve it early this year. The company has also placed a number of rigorous checks in place to trace its supply of tuna. It insists on maintaining strict records on such information as the fishing vessel, catch method, species caught, date of catch and the ocean in which it is caught.

Dr Lewis believes that awareness about sustainability is growing, especially in Australia and Europe, and increasingly in North America. "With this greater awareness, consumers will be prepared to pay more for what is sustainably caught."

He also believes the outlook for fishing is positive.

"There has been a strong check in the marketplace so hopefully it will be of assistance in achieving sustainability."

Advertisement

The passion that drove the man in his early career still beats strong in the heart of the 66-year-old scientist.

"I've always loved the sea. In terms of my work, it's a case of there's always more to know and more to understand.

"Things that happen in the sea are the last frontier of knowledge. And of course there's the concern about sustainability."

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement