Brussels, 06/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 6 April 2009, the EU Council of Ministers adopted without debate the revised draft regulation on recovery of bluefin tuna stocks in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic (see among others EUROPE 9874). The plan includes an immediate freezing of the fishing capacity of EU fleets at the 2007-2008 levels and the introduction of capacity reduction plans in order to bring them into line with national fishing quotas. The new rules will come into force immediately ahead of the start of the new fishing season on 15 April 2009. The regulation transposes into EU legislation the decisions on 2008 quotas decided upon by the International Committee for the Conservation of Tuna in the Atlantic (ICCAT).
The Commission adopted a statement on fishing capacity in which it explained that reductions in fishing capacity have to be tangible and may be inspected. Capacity will be reduced either by scrapping the ships involved or by adapting them for other purposes. The Commission points out that withdrawing bluefin tuna fishing permits will be viewed as an additional measure for reducing fishing capacity as part of the ICCAT bluefin tuna recovery plan, as long as member states certify that the said ships have permits to fish other species and are not equipped with nets or other tackle designed to catch bluefin tuna.
Other Commission statements will be adopted that will define harmonised growth measurements for tuna fattened up or kept in cages and fish farming and fattening capacity (adapting various aid measures to take account of the situation of the companies that will be affected by the bluefin tuna recovery plan).
Fishing ban. Bluefin tuna fishing by large pelagic longliners (more than 24 metres long) is banned in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic from 1 June to 31 December. Bluefin tuna fishing using purse seiners in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic is banned from 15 June to 15 April. Bluefin tuna fishing with trawlers and seiners using bate is banned in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic from October to 15 June. Bluefin tuna fishing using trawlers is banned in the Eastern Atlantic from 15 October to 15 June. Bluefin tuna fishing as a sporting activity is banned in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean from 15 October to 15 June. By way of exception, if a member state can demonstrate that due to winds of force 5 or higher on the Beaufort scale, some of their purse seiners fishing bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean will not use up all their allowed days at sea, then the said member state may postpone the end of the fishing season by between 5 and 20 days.
Minimum catch sizes. The minimum disembarkation size for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic is 30 kg or 115 cm. Derogations are planned (8 kg or 75 cm) for bluefin tuna caught in the Eastern Atlantic by trawlers and seiners using bate; bluefin tuna caught in the Eastern Atlantic for fish farming purposes; bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean by small-scale family fresh fish fishing off the coast by pole-and-line vessels using bate, long-liners or hand-liners.
Control and inspection measures. Tough inspection and control measures are foreseen including the drawing up of a list of ships permitted to fish bluefin tuna, a register of authorised tuna pound nets, the designation of bluefin tuna landing and transhipment points (ports), a daily log to be filled in by the ship's captain, statements of catches (a daily online statement for seiners and ships more than 24 metres long), detailed rules for caging for fish fatting and farms, a ship tracking system, controls in port and on fish farms, a national monitoring programme (every member state should monitors on board its ships that are more than 15 metres long and actively fishing bluefin tuna), and the use by inspectors of video recordings
Market measures. The following are banned from trade in the EU: the landing, import, export, transfer into cages for fattening or fish arming, re-exports and transhipment of bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic for which all the required paperwork is not available. The same ban applies to bluefin tuna from a ship or country that has used up its fishing quota. (L.C./transl.fl)