Brussels, 09/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - It was not without difficulty, on Wednesday 9 September, that the European Commission reached agreement on the joint EU position on the trade in bluefin tuna, stocks of which are dwindling, largely because of overfishing and illegal catches (see EUROPE 9972). The Commission is supporting a provisional global ban on the trade in bluefin tuna, a move which effectively suspends the fishery for this species. If, however, the countries throughout the world involved in this fishery decide on strong action in November to protect the species, or if future scientific advice indicates that numbers are increasing, the EU could abandon its call for a trade ban.
In concrete terms, the Commission says that the EU “could provisionally co-sponsor” Monaco's proposal to list bluefin tuna in appendix 1 of the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Commission says that it shares many of Monaco's concerns on the state of bluefin tuna stocks in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Appendix 1 lists the species on which there is an export and import ban. The proposal to support Monaco's initiative is, however, “provisional”, the Commission says. According to the agreement negotiated in the Commission, the EU position will be reviewed before the meeting, due to take place in Qatar in March 2010, of the 175 states that are parties to the CITES: - firstly, in the light of the most up-to-date scientific data, that will become available in November (current data on the state of stocks date from 2008); - and secondly, following the decisions taken in November in the International Convention on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said that, if ICCAT plays its role efficiently, “a complete ban can be avoided”.
The recommendation will have to be given the backing of the majority of European governments if it is to represent the position of all the EU at the General Assembly of the parties to the CITES in March of next year. In what is likely to be a heated exchange, member states will be consulted on 21 September. One group of countries (Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Netherlands and, from among the bluefin tuna fishing countries, France and Italy, subject to conditions) support, with one or two slight differences in viewpoint, listing bluefin tuna in CITES appendix 1. Others, which fish the species, including Spain and Malta, oppose suspending trade in bluefin tuna. Internationally, Japan is among the opponents of the move. The stakes are enormous: approximately 80% of the volume of Atlantic bluefin tuna harvested in the Mediterranean (around 30,000 tons in 2007) is exported to Japan. The intention is not to ban the fishery indefinitely, but to suspend it for, say, a period of two years, to give stocks a chance to recover. (L.C./transl.rt)