Tarifa, a Spanish navy frigate, equipped with long-range cameras and ultra-sophisticated electronic equipment, a helicopter, become fully involves at Europe’s attempts to rein in illegal fishing of the threatened bluefin tuna. The European Union has increased sea patrols, satellite surveillance and reconnaissance flights this year to control fishermen in the Mediterranean and Atlantic and protect tuna.
As per the records of European Commission most of the bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean were exported to Japan. And this boosts the illegal fishing of tuna in the Mediterranean. Marcelo Vasconcelos, the head of the European Fisheries Control Agency, opined that catching illegal fishermen in the act is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack “because there is no foolproof system.
It is said that for the 2008 campaign, 49 ships, 16 planes and 78 inspectors have been mobilised. The biggest operation was at the end of June, but monitoring will continue until the end of the year, informed European Commission. Isabelle Perret, who is finishing her work at the centre, said that the tracking, and the cross-checking of data between countries, led the European Commission to order a halt to large-scale tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, 15 days before it was due to end. The move triggered an outcry from French and Italian fishermen, who were backed by their governments.
Cesar Deben, a top European Fisheries Commission official confirmed that the first declared twice the catch of the second. That’s hard to believe when you know that at the end of the day they share the catch. He added that the declared catch and the real catch, they’re two different things. Despite the tougher surveillance, the lure of money is proving even stronger.
