The Bluefin tuna fishing season in the Western and Central Mediterranean Sea and in the Adriatic Sea came to a close for purse seiners at 8.00am on 21 June, 3 days before the official closure, the European Commission announced in a press release dated Monday 26 June.
The fishing season opened on 26 May and was due to run until 24 June. “Thanks to the implementation of an international recovery plan and to the efforts of fishermen, catch limits for Bluefin tuna were increased in 2017, as the stock showed continued signs of recovery”, commented the Commission.
No systemic illegal activities. The Commission is of the view that the 2017 season has run smoothly and notes that inspections on European vessels “did not reveal systemic illegal activities”. The Commission is pleased to confirm that, for the first year, all European operators have been using the electronic catch documentation system for Bluefin tuna developed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This system makes it possible to know exactly where each Bluefin tuna comes from. The transition from the paper-based bluefin tuna catch documentation program to an electronic Bluefin tuna catch documentation system aims to: - detect fraud; - deter illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) shipments of Bluefin tuna; - improve tracking of Bluefin tuna catch and commerce. Operators involved in live trade have been using the electronic system since 2016.
Caging operations. The European Commission’s control team – together with the team of the European Fisheries Control Agency and in close co-operation with competent national authorities – is now monitoring that caging operations in Spain, Malta and Croatia are performed according to ICCAT standards, in order to guarantee full implementation of ICCAT rules and EU legislation.
The majority of European purse seine vessels had already fished their quota in early June, and vessels were called back to port by their national authorities. The quota uptake has now reached 100% for the EU purse seiner fleet. Other gear types still have quota available.
In 2014, ICCAT agreed on a 60% increase of the total allowable catch for Bluefin tuna over the years 2015 to 2017. The EU quota for 2017 is 13,451.36 tonnes, compared to 11,200 tonnes in 2016. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)