A recent expert report branded the call for temporary closure of tuna fishing in Mediterranean as a disgrace. The World Conservation Congress has pressed for the ban of the bluefin fishery until scientifically sound recovery plans are in place. It is said that the catches are estimated to be about four times higher than scientists recommend.
Spain has the biggest quota for Mediterranean tuna voted in favour of closure. Experts from Australia, Japan and Canada noted that the performance of ICCAT was “widely regarded as an international disgrace”, and that the international community in whose interests ICCAT operates “deserves better performance than it has received to date”. The report blames ICCAT’s member nations for depleting stocks as they did not stamp down on illegal fishing. These nations didn’t to provide accurate catch data, and failed to implement proper monitoring arrangements for its fleets.
The report says that there were far too many boats chasing too few fish. It recommended an interim ban on fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, a measure that the US has previously backed. It is said that Spain’s support for its own fleet has been viewed as one of the principal reasons why catches have not been brought down to sustainable levels.
The Spanish delegation announced that with satisfaction and responsibility, Spain has participated in building up consensus to get a compromise that will allow us to reverse the critical situation in the bluefin tuna population in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
