YELLOW FIN TUNA BREEDING GROUNDS TO BE DESTROYED

Papua New Guinea faces the problem of undersea mining in the sea to the north of Wewak and south of New Ireland.

History is poised to repeat itself in a situation in which the government never learns. Already the rivers of the nation have faced massive damage from pollution caused by mining.

Cyanide has been washed into the Fly and Jaba Rivers. There will be pollution to the Sepik River from the Frieda River mining.

And now there is a plan to mine under the sea in the deep waters off the mouths of the Sepik and Ramu Rivers. This will be a catastrophe waiting to happen in what has to be a world heritage environmental site.

We all know that the estuaries of rivers are the nurseries for fish life. There is massive fish life in the estuaries of the Ramu and Sepik Rivers.

The problem is that the Magadus Square in the sea is the breeding grounds for the yellow fin tuna.

These fish are among the royalty of the Pacific Ocean.  Swimming the ocean in anti-clockwise direction, the tuna follow the west of the United States, around the east coast of China, down through the Philippines.

They breed in the Magadus Square of Papua New Guinea which makes this area of ocean a world heritage site soon to be spoiled by undersea mining.

The yellow fin tuna can live for more than 120 years but the species can only continue if able to breed. 

There may be older fish born before the end of the 20^th century. But many are caught by villagers within a year of being born. Young tuna are sold in the markets of Wewak, their long lives cut short.

The young tuna feed off the prawns and other baby fish life that gather in the estuaries of the Ramu and Sepik Rivers.

There has been opposition to the mining. A Court case in Singapore found the PNG Government guilty of breach of contract and liable to pay a fine to the mining company. What happened to national sovereignty?

Now there is opposition in New Ireland and from the Catholic Church. The claim made by the mining company is that there will be no pollution. Go tell it to the marines. 

Already there is effluent pouring into the sea from the RamuNico mining. Now there will be damage to the yellow fin tuna breeding grounds. Pollution will destroy the fish nursery sites in the estuarine zones of the Sepik and Ramu Rivers.

Some five years ago, the Secretary for Fisheries Sylvester Pokajam issued a warning but was sacked perhaps to ensure silence on the fisheries front.

Nations of the Pacific and villagers on the north coast of Papua New Guinea, coastal New Ireland and Manus Island will suffer if the Magadus breeding grounds are destroyed.