The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is asking decision-makers and the fishing industry to follow the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Scientific Committee’s recommendations: to make sure the bluefin tuna quota in the Eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean does not exceed 12,900 tonnes per year.
The current quota stands at 14,200 tonnes a year. This plea comes in anticipation of the upcoming 18th Special Meeting of the Commission in Agadir, Morocco, where the European Commission is expected to propose an increase in the bluefin quota to 13,500 tonnes.
“ICCAT must keep recovery ambitions high for the fragile bluefin tuna. Big achievements are long in the making but in only an instant can be lost,” warned Dr Sergi Tudela, head of Fisheries, WWF-Mediterranean.
Contracting parties and the fishing sector must commit to following scientific advice, WWF said, as it has been paying off: there are now signs of a stock increase.
Still, "the magnitude and speed of the increase vary considerably," Associated Pressreports.
“ICCAT scientists are clear this year that the fishing quotas must not increase to enable Atlantic bluefin tuna to fully recover over the next decade. WWF calls on ICCAT contracting parties to stick to this recommendation”, said Tudela.
Amanda Nickson, director of the Global Tuna Conservation Campaign at the Pew Environment Group, stressed that species’ recovery remains very uncertain.
"So it's important from our perspective we retain pressure on governments at ICCAT to listen to that science. Our key message is: 'hold those quotas where they are'," she stated.
ICCAT first adopted a plan to reduce the fleet capacity for the Atlantic bluefin tuna in 2008, which was further refined in 2010. The current plan ends in 2013, when it is assumed to have phased out all fishing overcapacity in the Eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean.
Nonetheless, a recent assessment shows that the current plan is based on catch rates of fishing fleets that resulted in continued overcapacity.
“There are still too many boats for too few fish to be sustainably caught,” noted Tudela. “We call on ICCAT to extend the capacity reduction plan for the next three years using updated and accurate estimates of potential catch rates to ensure overcapacity is fully removed within the next three years.”
He also said that WWF will be watching ICCAT on measures decided to fight illegal, unregulated, unreported catches (IUU), which has been vital to the initial stock recovery.
“Poor decision-making on this matter risks taking this fishery back to the dark ages and destroying the achievements of years of productive collective work. Serious investigations on all potential infringements and adequate measures to tackle IUU catches are still crucial,” Tudela added.
Last week, the Centre for Biological Diversity renewed its efforts to protect bluefin tuna under the US’s Endangered Species Act. More than 40,000 people have joined the Centre’s bluefin boycott campaign and pledged not to eat at restaurants serving the tuna, and dozens of chefs and restaurant owners have vowed not to sell it,Examiner reports.