I would like to express condolences on behalf of Greenpeace for the passing of Laisa Taga. Our deepest thoughts are with her colleagues and family in their grieving. I also just wanted to follow up on a recent article in Island Business and say that Greenpeace will maintain a full-time staff presence in the Pacific and is currently in the process of recruitment for one new full-time position to be based in the region. Greenpeace focuses along the whole chain of custody to help expose and take action against environmental crime. Greenpeace is still working to protect Pacific tuna resources in Pacific countries such as Kiribati, PNG, the Solomon Islands and Fiji. My colleague Nathaniel Pelle and I have just returned from Kiribati where we were researching how to develop a locally-operated tuna fishing fleet in order to guarantee a greater share of the value of their tuna resources. This is part of our Transforming Tuna in the Pacific work and involves working with governments, local businesses and local fishermen. Whilst we are always extremely mindful of our resources, Greenpeace is not facing funding problems and has taken this decision for strategic reasons. Greenpeace is not proposing to replace employed staff and contractors with volunteers. We are replacing the current model of a single static office in Suva with two people working on fisheries campaign issues that are more nimble and able to operate throughout the entire Pacific region. However, volunteers do play a vital role in Greenpeace
