Brussels, 21/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Joe Borg, the European Commissioner for fisheries, considers that during its members' meeting on 13-18 May on the Island of Mauritius, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) missed a chance to step up the fight against illegal fishing in the zone. The IOTC is an intergovernmental organisation in charge of managing tuna in the Indian Ocean and adjacent areas but failed to reach an agreement on amending its basic statutes that would have broken its links with the United Nationals Organisation for Food and Agriculture. This failure threatens the IOTC's ability to fight illegal fishing and also threatens the survival of tuna resources, explained the Commission.
IOTC stakeholders are: the European Commission, France and the United Kingdom (on behalf of their overseas territories in the region), Australia, China, Comores, Eritrea, Mauritius, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vanuatu. EU member states with tuna fishing boats in the area are Spain (160 boats, according to 2005 data), France (75), Portugal (17), United Kingdom (2) and Italy (1). (lc)