Brussels, 13/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - At a public hearing on 12 September, organised on the initiative of the Parliamentary fisheries committee, scientific experts, MEPs and industry representatives all acknowledged that urgent action was needed to avoid the collapse of bluefin tuna stocks which had been fished at unsustainable levels in the Mediterranean. The European Commission announced its intention to put forward relatively ambitious measures to rebuild bluefin tuna stocks at the November ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) meeting. The Commission represents the EU in this regional fisheries organisation, which also counts among its members the United States, Canada, Japan, China and Brazil.
The EP fisheries committee decided to hold this hearing after the confrontation at the end of August between Greenpeace and French and Spanish tuna fishers. Enrique Rodriguez Marin, a scientist at the Spanish Oceanography Institute (IEO) expressed the view that illegal fishing and the large number of fleets were responsible for the overfishing of the bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. He said that the biomass (quantity of fish) had fallen by 50% since the 1970s and that mortality due to fishing (kill ratio) had risen sharply since 1993. The 50,000 tonnes of tuna caught every year far exceeded the 25,000 tonne level recommended by scientists, he stressed, and he called for the implementation of emergency measures , including the closure of some fishing zones and a ban on certain types of fishing gear. He said that, along with a reduction in quotas, there must be additional measures to reduce capacity, otherwise there would be an increased risk of illegal practices. Jean-Marc Fromentin, a scientist with IFREMER, and a member of the ICCAT working group on Bluefin tuna, pointed out that this species was very long-lived, making stocks easily damaged by fishing. France, Spain and Italy share at least 50% of the market, far ahead of non-EU Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya together account for 30%), Japan (9%) and the United States (3%). He spoke of the recent development of the practice of “fattening” or “fish farming”, which further restricted the accuracy of scientific analysis. Mr Fromentin also highlighted overcapacity (1,700 vessels fishing for tuna in the Mediterranean, 250 of which were large industrial vessels) and the rapid expansion of fishing zones (the last remaining spawning grounds have been removed over the last three or four years, he regretted).
The President of the Spanish trap-net fishermen's association Ferrán Bel called particularly for the eradication of illegal fishing and limiting the number of vessels per country (in this he was supported by Italian expert Mario Ferreti representing the industry). Mr Bel defended fish farms which “generate considerable added value for the sector”. Marta Crespo, representing Spanish tunny-fishing netters (a small-scale coastal fishery), said that the large industrial fleet was responsible for the overfishing, and called for strong measures to be put in place: a stock recovery plan, strengthening of checks on industrial fishing, increasing the minimum landing weight for bluefin tuna to 30 kg. (it currently stands at 10 kg. in the Mediterranean) and a reduction in fishing capacity and “fattening” farms. Sergi Tudela of WWF was most irate about those countries, including some from the EU, which practised “pirate fishing”. A new WWF study shows there to be almost no bluefin tuna left to fish in the Mediterranean: off the Balearic Islands, only 2,270 tonnes of bluefin tuna were caught in 2006, compared with 14,699 in 1995; fish farms lost 25% of catches in a year. He called, therefore, for the EU to send a strong signal at the next ICCAT meeting and recommended a ban on all fishing activity during the three-month spawning season of the species.
The European Commission, “very worried at the overfishing situation”, announced that, at the November ICCAT meeting, it would defend ambitious measures. In particular, it wanted to see implemented a programme to reduce fishing capacity¸ harmonisation of the minimum landing weight, labelling of every fish and measures to facilitate respect for quotas. MEPs all accepted the need to take measures to preserve the stock. Struan Stevenson (EPP-ED, UK) supported the closure of the fishery during the spawning season, Elspeth Attwooll (ALDE, UK) and Heinz Kindermann (SPD) called for measures to reduce illegal fishing; Marie-Hélène Aubert (Greens, France) criticised the Commission's approach, which consisted of offering subsidies to reduce fishing effort a few years after granting funds to modernise vessels. Josu Ortuondo Larrea (ALDE, Spain) recommended that measures be taken on a case-by-case basis, so as not to penalise those countries which were abiding by the rules.