Brussels, 18/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - At the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in the Cape, South Africa 18-25 November 2013, the EU said that the “precautionary approach” should be followed with regard to stocks of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, until a new scientific opinion is available (expected at the beginning of 2014).
Last year, ICCAT agreed on a total allowable catch (TAC) of 13,400 tonnes for 2013 and 2014. The TAC will therefore not be amended before the next ICCAT in a year's time (see EUROPE 10945).
In a press release, Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Fisheries, indicated that the EU welcomes the recovery of bluefin tuna stocks since last year, a trend that has now been confirmed by the most recent data. According to Damanaki, significant uncertainties are still preventing a complete picture to be gained regarding the speed and scale of fish stock recovery. The EU is therefore supporting the recommendation by the ICCAT scientific committee for stability in stock management, including on the TAC, “to allow for better assessments, with fewer uncertainties, in the future”. Damanaki acknowledged that the fishing sector has made “significant and painful sacrifices” over the past years which have allowed the bluefin tuna to recover.
The EU believes that decisions must respect scientific opinion. This applies to species for which new assessments have been made, namely Atlantic albacore and swordfish.
The EU will continue to push for the protection of vulnerable shark species and will work with the other contracting parties to support ICCAT measures that ban shark finning, a fishing practice that consists of cutting off the fins of sharks and throwing the dismembered shark carcass away. The EU has recently toughened up the ban on this barbaric practice. (LC/transl.fl)