Brussels, 19/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 September, the European Commission decided to close the bluefin tuna fisheries in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean until the end of the year. According to catch statistics received so-far, the quota of 16,780 tonnes allocated to the EU for 2007 has been exhausted.
The member states directly affected by this ban are Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. These countries were continuing to fish bluefin tuna, unlike Italy and France, which closed their fisheries in July and August respectively having fished their quotas. Moreover, the Commission noted that EU member states had failed to properly communicate catch data necessary to monitor the uptake of the EU quota in real time. The Commission promises to take action against such failings. “Clearly there are problems both of over fishing a stock already threatened with collapse and of equity between the Member States concerned. As is its duty, the Commission will do all it can to address these issues urgently,” said Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg.
Seven member states fish for bluefin tuna: Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain. The EU quota for 2007 (16,780 tonnes) was set in January 2007 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). Italy closed its bluefin tuna fishery on 24 July and France did likewise on 27 August.
Under Community legislation measures, those states which have not fully used up their quota will be compensated over the coming years. The ICCAT recovery plan includes a “payback” provision for those parties which overfish their quotas. The ICCAT compliance committee will meet in November to establish final catch figures for all contracting parties for the 2007 season. Once ICCAT has decided on the measures to be taken on quota overshooting, the Commission will present its own proposal for payback and compensation within the EU. It will ensure that all the member states which have suffered as a result of the early closure of the 2007 fishery will be compensated in future fishing possibilities.
The Commission says it will continue and extend the unannounced visits by its own inspectors to landing ports and farms, and will actively seek to improve the exchange of information, in particular with regard to the transfer of tuna to fattening cages. (lc)