The tuna fishermen in France are not happy with the European Commission’s decision to end their fishing season early. They demonstrate against the decision by blocking several access points to France’s Fos-Lavera oil hub. According to the port authority the main French tuna fishermen’s trade union threatened to block access to France’s main Mediterranean ports.
It is said that the tuna fishermen, who blocked the sea access points with their boats, are protesting against the Commission’s decision to ban trawling for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean from June 16, cutting short the tuna fishing season by two weeks. In its decision the European Commission said that the quota for the year has been exhausted, but France has been particularly annoyed by the ban, engaging in an angry war of words with the Commission about its catch data and arguing that it still has the right to fish.
Reacting on France’s anger the Commission, on the other hand, has accused France and Italy of quota-busting and under-reporting catches. According to the commission there is evidence of illegal spotter planes being used by EU vessels to help them identify tuna shoals.
