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Tuna pole-and-line fishing is an example of a fishery which has relatively low impact on the environment and which has a high level of associated jobs; for many ACP coastal states these two aspects are of fundamental importance. However, the economics of pole-and-line fishing, as promoted by NGOs like Greenpeace, are not so bright, particularly when the end product proposed – canned tuna – is unlikely to attract a price premium that will compensate for the difference in costs. Promotion of pole-and-line fishing should be based on a market analysis which would clarify which products might be attractive enough to end consumers for them to be willing to pay a fair price for it. Another aspect highlighted here, that promoting pole-and-line fishing may have an impact on purse-seining, is also very true. Linked to this is the fact that, given the need to maintain/decrease the global tuna-fishing effort in the Pacific, any development of pole-and-line would necessarily mean a diminution of purse-seining fishing (particularly FAD associated purse-seining). This may also partly explain ISSF’s concern about this issue, as most of its members in the fishing industry are involved in purse-seining.
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