Brussels, 26/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Oceana, an organisation which works to protect and restore the world's oceans, ha s called for increased protection for bluefin tuna (see related article), swordfish and shark and reminded the European Union of its commitment to restore fish stocks to the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) “provides the EU with a unique opportunity to show there's a real political will to restore depleted fish stocks,” states Xavier Pastor, Executive Director of Oceana in Europe, in a press release issued on Tuesday 26 October. He goes on to say: “Given the critical status of bluefin tuna, and the lack of management measures for Mediterranean swordfish and sharks, the situation can no longer be ignored by the EU, which has been the greatest beneficiary of their exploitation and is partly responsible for the current conditions”.
“Without urgent action, Mediterranean swordfish will be well on its way to facing the same fate” as the bluefin tuna, Pastor warned.
On bluefin tuna, Oceana urges the EU to advocate: - a total closure of industrial fishing activity in the Mediterranean; - marine reserves in Mediterranean bluefin tuna spawning areas; - the establishment of a total allowable catch (TAC) that fully ensures recovery of the species.
Oceana says that there are no controls or management measures on the swordfish fishery in the Mediterranean. “More than 8,000 vessels including illegal driftnets fleets are targeting this species and misreporting a substantial quantity of their catch,” Ocean claims. It urges the EU to propose a Mediterranean swordfish management plan at ICCAT that will ensure the recovery of the stock. The plan, it says, should comprise the following measures: - the reduction of fleet overcapacity; - the establishment of inter alia catch limits and minimum landing sizes; - the introduction of specific measures tackling the illegal use of driftnets.
In the Atlantic, most pelagic shark fisheries are carried out without management measures, Oceana states. Consequently, many shark species are overexploited. The organisation calls on the EU to protect theses species by promoting: - the prohibition of the on board retention of shark species classified as endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN, as well as particularly vulnerable or depleted species, along the same lines of the existing Spanish ban of thresher and hammerhead sharks; - the introduction of science-based limits on catches (including by-catch) for all other shark species; - the improvement of the ICCAT finning ban by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins wholly or partially attached in a natural manner. The next ICCAT meeting will be held in Paris on 17-27 November. (L.C./transl.rt)