Tuna campaigners blame EU for unsustainable quota
LEIGH PHILLIPS
25.11.2008 @ 09:18 CET
Bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean will see next year's catch stretch far beyond what scientists recommend are safe levels if the fishery is not to collapse.
The commission responsible for managing the fishery, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), at a meeting in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday (24 November) opted to set quotas at 22,000 tonnes for 2009, far higher than the scientists' recommended 8,500 to 15,000 tonnes to avoid a crash in stocks.
Fisheries commissioner Borg had called the ICCAT meeting the last chance for bluefin tuna stocks (Photo: EU commission)
Despite expressing concern for the state of the diminishing fishery, the European Union has been blamed by environmental groups for forcing developing world nations into backing the higher catch.
European Union fisheries commissioner Joe Borg had initially described the meeting as the last chance for the bluefin tuna fishery, and at the World Conservation Congress in October, Spain - the biggest tuna-fishing country - and Italy Italy backed a suspension of the fishery.
EU statements had called "the situation of the bluefin tuna is critical," with representatives saying "urgent action is needed."
However, in the end, it was European Union that pushed for the ICCAT decision, supported by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria and subsequently also backed by Japan.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature, a green NGO, said after the meeting: "The debate has been marred by allegations of the European Commission threatening developing state members with trade retaliations should they support lower catch limits and extended closed seasons."
The BBC has reported that conservationists in Marrakech said the EU told developing countries they would impose trade penalties on bananas and other goods if they did not side with Brussels.
Oceana, another campaign group, called the decision a "disaster."
Xavier Pastor, the group's European director, said: "ICCAT's credibility has been destroyed by the negotiating countries who opposed responsible management measures for bluefin tuna."
"Instead of preserving the bluefin tuna stock from collapse, they gave in to the fishing industry's short-term economic interests. With this decision, we can only wait for the disappearance of bluefin tuna."
WWF says it has given up on ICCAT as a responsible manager of fisheries and will now look to boycotts and other measures to try to achieve a sustainable bluefin fishery.
"ICCAT's string of successive failures leaves us little option now but to seek effective remedies through trade measures and extending the boycott of retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers," said the group's Mediterranean's fisheries programme leader, Sergi Tudela.
