The Spanish government is eyeing to increase the quota for bluefin tuna, backed by an assessment by the Scientific Committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
Spain will present its request to the Fisheries Council of the European Union (EU), held on Monday and Tuesday this week in Luxembourg, news agency EFE reported.
Bluefin tuna catches will be decided in November 2012, during the ICCAT annual meeting in Agadi, Morocco.
At a recent scientific conference in Tarragona, Spain, Josú Santiago, president of the ICCAT Scientific Committee, said this latest report "clearly highlights the importance of an improvement of the bluefin tuna stock and spawning biomass status relative to the 2010 latest assessment," reported ABC.
However, there is the need to be cautious with the data, as there are still doubts about the true extent of such recovery, he said.
The European fleet has a current bluefin tuna quota of 12,900 metric tons, out of which 2,411 metric tons were for Spanish vessels.
The Scientific Committee will recommend bluefin tuna catch quotas should be maintained at the annual 12,900 metric tons set for 2010 or should be increased slightly to 13,500 metric tons, said Santiago.