Feature story - November 16, 2009
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has again failed the Atlantic bluefin tuna, voting at its annual meeting on recommendations that will not ensure the recovery of the depleted species.
ICCAT fails again to protect the bluefin tuna
Once again, ICCAT refused to act beyond the interests of a few tuna fishing and farming operations. ICCAT has allowed catches that far exceed the latest scientific advice for one of the most overexploited fisheries worldwide.
The latest available science shows that the annual catch limit for eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna should be cut to 8,000 tonnes to give the stocks even a 50 per cent chance of recovering by 2023. Despite repeated calls for the closure of this fishery, the European Community, Mediterranean fishing states and Japan continue to ignore the scientific community, forcing a new catch level of 13,500 tonnes, down from the current 19,950 tonnes, but not low enough to give the stock a fighting chance.
Through with ICCAT, on to CITES
With ICCAT's continued failure to properly manage and protect bluefin stocks, a ban on international trade is now the only chance to save the iconic fish from commercial extinction.
Throughout the discussions at last week's meeting it was apparent that ICCAT members were desperate to set new quota limits to avoid the pending threat of a ban on international trade. However, without a clear commitment by ICCAT members to close the fishery, Greenpeace will be looking to the members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in March to list bluefin under Appendix I and prohibit its trade and slash fishing efforts.
Last month, the Principality of Monaco submitted a proposal to CITES to list bluefin tuna. ICCAT's own scientists recently demonstrated that the current bluefin tuna reproductive population is less than 15 per cent of what it was before fishing began, confirming that the species meets the criteria for inclusion under
Appendix I.
Not just failing bluefin
ICCAT member states also failed to agree to any serious measures to protect depleted species of sharks, sea turtles and seabirds. The only thing they agreed on was to put it off until next year.
Perhaps the most appalling of all was the agreement by members to allow Morocco to keep using illegal driftnet pelagic gear until 2012 - gear that is commonly referred to as "walls of death." Moroccan fleets use driftnets to target swordfish but about 4,000 dolphins and 25,000 pelagic sharks are killed by these driftnets annually in the Western Mediterranean Sea.