Green sharks were killed on shocking levels in the Pacific, and industrial fishing is making marine biodiversity more abundant, Greenpeace claimed after its militants destroyed a Spanish ship operating north of New Zealand.

The campaign team said that Rainbow Warriors militants observed a long-term fishing operation by Playa Zahara in the South Fiji Basin this week.

Georgia Whitaker, a senior athlete from Australia's Greenpeace Pacific, joined the boat in the action. She claimed that militants watched the ship dragging and killed three endangered marco sharks in half an hour.

She said a small crew member, including a trained shark handler, boarded a support boat to approach the Spanish ship and released 14 animals, including eight near-threatening blue sharks, four swordfishes and an endangered Longfin Mako Shark.

The militants also removed more than 210 hooks and a 20-kilometer long line.

"It's devastating to see these beautiful creatures caught, in their mouths, in their mouths, being caught by huge bait hooks," Whitaker said. "They fight for their lives and in a few minutes you'll see blood spilling over the side of the ship."

Whitaker said the crew of the ship told Greenpeace they acted legally, primarily targeting swordfish.

Playa Zahara caught more than 600,000 kilograms of blue sharks in the southwest of the Pacific in 2023, according to the EU to the Western Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Patricia Rodríguez, a spokesman for Viverdreams Fish, a company that owns Playa Zahara, said the ship had under international law and captured the actions of species such as Mako Shark and Blue Shark.

"The species mentioned by Greenpeace are within the quotas and restrictions allowed by the competent authorities, and all systems established by the EU and Spanish authorities control and record capture, processing and uninstall procedures," Rodriss said.

The statement accused Greenpeace of "a false campaign" that violated maritime laws, stole fishing gear and posed risks to crew members by intervening in both vessels.

“Our company is strongly committed to the sustainability of marine resources and regularly works with scientists, independent observers and fishery authorities to ensure compliance with conservation standards,” she said.

Greenpeace analysis estimates that nearly one million blue sharks were captured in the Pacific last year, the highest number recorded since 1991.

The same report found that nearly 70% of EU long-term catches in the region were Blue Sharks in 2023.

World leaders will discuss the High Sea Biodiversity Treaty at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice next week, signed by Australia in 2023 but has not yet ratified it.

Greenpeace has urged the government to ratify the treaty within 100 days of its second term. The treaty requires 60 countries to ratify it before it goes into force, but only 32 have so far done so.

Shark fishing is a profitable global trade, worth an estimated $1 billion a year. Global demand for shark meat has doubled over the past two decades.

Dr Leonardo Guida, a shark scientist at the Australian Marine Conservation Association, said the level of reference is shocking, given that more than a third of shark and ray species are threatened with extinction worldwide.

"Sharks are important in ecosystems, and they usually occupy the top of marine food networks," he said. "The steep population decline will cause food networks to become unstable and eventually collapse, and obviously their losses may be arising from food security in many countries."

Jeddah said establishing fishing-free marine reserves is for maintaining marine life and understanding how ecosystems respond to the combined pressures of overfishing and climate crisis.

“These shelters serve as controls,” he said. “They help us compare areas affected by fishing, which is essential to establish resilience and manage our fisheries in a rapidly changing world, thereby reducing the impact on different species.”