Greenpeace intervention was peaceful

The editorial No Place For Fishing Wars (June 29) asserts that Greenpeace has been taking violent action to stop tuna fishing in the Mediterranean. This is not the case. Our actions were entirely peaceful and safe, and given the dire state of bluefin tuna stocks and the repeated failure of our elected politicians to bring this environmental crisis under control, we believe entirely justified. We should not forget that over 80 per cent of the stock of bluefin tuna has already been fished out, lost to our oceans forever.

Greenpeace took peaceful direct action this fishing season to try and set bluefin tuna free from fishermen's nets so that these increasingly depleted fish could be returned to the wild.

We took every care to ensure that our actions did not harm the fishermen. This cannot be said of the fishermen's actions: one of our activists was seriously injured and spent four days in hospital as a direct result of the violent response shown to us by French tuna fishermen.

Several activists reported seeing fishermen armed with knives and other weapons. Two of our inflatable boats were sunk when they were slashed open by fishermen using large blades and a purse seiner rammed an immobilised inflatable with people still on it. On another occasion, a Maltese fishing vessel attempted to sail over one of our inflatables at full speed.

Greenpeace has offered full cooperation in any inquiry into the events that unfolded on the international waters south of Malta this summer. We will be asking the French prosecutor to investigate the conduct of French fishermen in particular. Greenpeace has a history of over 40 years of intervening peacefully to stop environmental destruction where it happens - our recent interventions in the Mediterranean have been no exception to this commitment to non-violence.

The real failing in the bluefin tuna story is a political one. For years, scientists have been warning about the dramatic declines in bluefin tuna stocks but our politicians have repeatedly failed to take adequate action to reverse the damage. Each year, the hunt for the ever-dwindling bluefin tuna is allowed to resume. This year, Greenpeace decided to act where our politicians have not.

Greenpeace is not opposed to fishing. On the contrary, we want to see proper protection for our marine environment and fishing that is truly sustainable. European governments should make every effort to ensure that fishermen are properly supported in the transition to sustainable fishing.

Our hope is that in the coming months European politicians will take the decisive action needed to save the bluefin tuna by closing the fishery. Only then will this species be given the chance to recover.