Greenpeace activist fights to save tuna

By Kim Young-jin

Apple Chow, like many in her native Hong Kong and around the world, used to enjoy tuna without a second thought. After all, it was everywhere from store shelves and cheap sandwich joints to posh restaurants.

That quickly changed when the biology major began working for international environmental group Greenpeace and, in 2009, its campaign to fight the rapid decline of the tuna population caused by overfishing.

“Before I worked on this campaign, I was like most people ― I didn’t know there was a problem,” the 32-year-old activist said in a recent interview. “But tuna are in crisis.”

Now the senior ocean campaigner for the recently-opened Greenpeace Seoul office, Chow is urging Korea to help create a sustainable environment for tuna in the Pacific Ocean, where it fishes heavily.

“If we don’t protect them and support international conservative measures they’ll be gone in a few years,” she said. “My goal is to urge the government and industry here to support sustainable development.”

One of the world’s favorite fish, many tuna species are endangered due to heavy demand. Scientists predict that if current trends hold, they could be fished to extinction by 2048, dealing a major blow to the environment.

“Tuna is the highest-value commercial species and the highest on the food chain. If there are no big fish to eat the smaller fish, the ecosystem will collapse,” Chow said.

With populations in other oceans depleted, the industry has converged on the Pacific, the source of more than half of all tuna consumed globally. Activists say Korea trails only Japan in fishing the ocean, both in terms of number of vessels and intake.

Greenpeace is urgently calling for the establishment of marine reserves there to give the population a chance to replenish.

In particular, it wants Korea, which has resisted past campaigns for the reserves, to support the measure in December, when the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which the nation is party to, will meet.

Communication is key

The campaign highlights the impact of the Seoul office after it was established this summer. It made its first splash in June with a high-profile trip around the country on its campaign vessel Rainbow Warrior to highlight the dangers of nuclear energy.

It is expected to put equal emphasis on the nuclear and ocean campaigns as it helps galvanize the environmental movement here, which already has a strong presence due to the work of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Chow, who helped establish an oceans campaign in Taiwan, began her work here in March, touring the East Sea on the vessel for research including interviews with local fishermen, who were worried about recent small catches.

“They said they usually have a big catch in March and April, but this year they did not. They were concerned about their livelihood,” she said, adding that because tuna are highly migratory, fishing in the high seas affects that closer to shore.

The activist is also taking the case to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as well as industry heavy hitters such as Dongwon and Sajo, a key step in building trust and changing possible misperceptions.

“They may think that we were attacking them,” she said, referring to past actions on the ocean and other issues. “If we don’t have direct dialogue, they may get the wrong impression just seeing the protests. It helps to change the mindset so that we can work together.”

Chow, who splits her time between Korea and Hong Kong, said environmental activism often gets judged unfairly based solely upon media reports of protests, adding that Greenpeace is often embraced by governments in the Pacific.

“We always receive feedback that we are too aggressive or radical. But we do a lot of research and lobbying behind the scenes, and people don’t see this. If they take some time to understand what we have done, they can see we have done solid things.”

The activist is uniquely suited to act as a communication channel for the organization’s East Asia wing, which also has offices in Taipei, Hong Kong and Beijing.

Speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese and English and now learning Korean, Chow has the rare ability to communicate the organization’s goals and intentions all over the region and deepen the organization’s understanding of different locations.

Korea, she says, has a relatively high awareness of environmental issues compared to other Asian countries. But it still has a long way to go when it comes to the ocean, at least compared to the West.

“In the West, consumers read labels and consider if it’s sustainable before buying things. In the East, I don’t think there’s such awareness here,” she said.

To move the campaign forward, Chow is working with Korean campaigners to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle the tuna issue. Through a multipronged approach leaning heavily on communication, she is confident they can help to compel stakeholders to review their stances.

Chow is encouraged by the fact that all parties have the same goal ― to have fish in the ocean.

“There is room for us to work together. I hope Greenpeace will not be seen as an opponent. I hope we can provide support and expertise to help them develop sustainable fisheries. We are a friend,” she said.