Despite 90% Population Collapse Since 1970s, EU Resisting Calls To Limit Bluefin Tuna Fishing

[hatrack]

BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (IPS) - The European Union has resisted calls for a ban on fishing for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean despite warning signs that the species is being exploited towards extinction. Stocks of bluefin tuna in European waters have fallen by 90 percent since the 1970s. After many years when large vessels fished relentlessly for this variety -- considered a delicacy by sushi enthusiasts -- a recent scientific report branded marine management in the Mediterranean an "international disgrace".

The study carried out at the request of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICATT) noted that the 61,000 tonnes of tuna taken from the Mediterranean during 2007 was twice the amount permitted by law and four times the level that could be regarded as ecologically sustainable. Nonetheless, the EU's marine ministers decided against closing the fishery for bluefin tuna when they met in Luxembourg Oct. 27-28. Instead, they have simply asked the European Commission to seek greater protection of this stock when ICATT, a grouping of 46 countries, meets in Marrakech, Morocco, next month.

The Union's position has been condemned by environmental activists. "The current situation with this fishery is out of control," said Sergi Tudela from the Spanish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "We need its immediate closure until the situation is brought under control."

Calls for a ban on fishing for bluefin tuna have won support from unlikely quarters. Spain, which has the largest fleet in the EU, and Japan, where tuna is much coveted for its use in sushi, both supported a motion calling for the Mediterranean fishery to be closed when it was debated at the World Conservation Congress, which bands together governments and ecological organisations, in Barcelona during September. But Italy and France have been resisting calls for a ban. The Rome government has been threatening legal action against a decision by the European Commission to end the season for bluefin tuna fishing earlier than usual this year because catch quotas were exceeded. The consequent temporary closure of this fishery came into effect in June. It affects six EU countries: Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta.

EDIT

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44473

[GliderGuider]

1. I have this mental image

The year is 2025. A fishing vessel the size of the Queen Mary, powered by a Polywell fusion reactor, is chasing the world's very last bluefin tuna through the Mediterranean...