Brussels, 15/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Because of differences among member states on the level of bluefin tuna quotas for next year, the European Union could find itself in a very uncomfortable situation, with no common position when the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) gets under way in Paris on Wednesday 17 November. The EU has one last chance to reach some kind of compromise when the Committee of member states' Permanent Representatives to the EU (COREPER) meets on Wednesday 17.
The European Commission is proposing a reduction in bluefin tuna quotas for next year, but those member states whose vessels fish the species continue to argue for retention of current catching limits (see EUROPE 10254). At the COREPER meeting on Friday 12 November, the countries which fish for bluefish tuna, and which include France, Spain and Italy, called for the mandate to be given to the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the EU at the ICCAT meeting to state that the total allowable catch (TAC) for bluefin tuna should be maintained at the 2010 level, that is, 13,500 tonnes, in line with scientific advice. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, want the EU's position to be for a reduction in the TAC, as the Commission itself wishes, in line with scientific advice. So then, it is clear that interpretation of the scientific advice is posing a bit of a problem.
Jean-Marc Fromentin, a researcher with Ifremer (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) in Sète and a member of the ICCAT Scientific Committee, says that the recovery of the bluefin tuna stock could be achieved by 2022, with catches the same as or lower than the 13,500 tonne quota allocated at global level in 2010, provided that control measures are kept in place. He says that the latest advice by the ICCAT Scientific Committee “shows a significant improvement in the state of the bluefin tuna stock compared with previous assessments”. This positive state of affairs is the result of a strict recovery plan put in place in 2007 and of a very sharp tightening of control measures from 2008. “The ICCAT Scientific Committee now no longer speaks about the possibility of the stock collapsing, as it did in the past. That said, management measures must remain in place for a number of years yet since the level of the biomass is still insufficient and far below the reference level required,” he said.
The Commission prefers to act on the more cautious estimate in the scientific advice, arguing that a reduction in the TAC is necessary if the bluefin tuna stock is to be in good condition by 2020. (L.C./transl.rt)