Last year the countries member to International Commission for
the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) failed to adopt a
program to recover the population of this species, at high risk of
collapse due to the amount of illegal catches in the Mediterranean
region (1). Despite ICCAT's own scientists warning that only
catches lower than 15,000 tonnes would allow the population to
start recovering, ICCAT approved last November a quota of 29,500
tonnes for 2007. Control measures were also approved to deal with
the high level of illegal catches, but they will not enter into
force until after this year's fishing season. By that time, with
the current number of ships in the area, the bluefin tuna will have
suffered from another year of plunder and pirate fishing.
One of the last healthy bluefin tuna areas in the Mediterranean
is north of Libya. It has been estimated that over 200 purse
seiners with capacity to harvest 35,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna may
concentrate in this area during the coming weeks.
Greenpeace already has indications that catches in the trap
fisheries in the south of Spain and the north of Morocco have only
caught 20% of what they caught by this time in 2006. The 2006
season was already one of very low catches. These traditional traps
are also catching smaller tuna than in previous years confirming a
very worrying trend with the largest tuna, crucial for the
reproduction of the species, disappearing from the
Mediterranean.
"The bluefin tuna fishery is totally out of control," said
Sebastián Losada, Greenpeace Spain oceans campaigner, in Malta.
"Governments have shown their complete inability to guarantee the
sustainable exploitation of this species, which is essential to
Mediterranean ecosystems as well as to the region's economy and
culture. All fleets should be called back to port. Otherwise, this
could be the last year for the bluefin tuna fishery in the
Mediterranean."
According to UN Food and Agriculture Organization data, over
three quarters of all commercially valuable fish stocks are already
fully exploited, overexploited or depleted (2). Worldwide, up to
90% of stocks of large predatory fish like cod, tuna and swordfish
have already been fished out (3).
"There is an urgent need for a radical change in the way our
oceans are managed," said François Provost, Greenpeace France
oceans campaigner, in Malta. "Protection of ocean ecosystems is
crucial for the millions of people who are dependent on them for
their livelihoods, particularly local fishers and communities. The
creation of marine reserves is the only way to both protect and
restore the marine environment and to allow exploited fish stocks
to recover."
Greenpeace is campaigning for a global network of fully
protected marine reserves covering 40% of our oceans as an
essential way to protect the full range of marine life and restore
the health of fish stocks. In Europe Greenpeace is demanding that
EU member states include the provision for such a network in a new
marine law, the Marine Strategy Directive. As part of this
campaign, the Arctic Sunrise is in the North Sea confronting the
fishing vessels which are rapidly taking the cod towards commercial
extinction and the Rainbow Warrior is confronting the tuna fleets
that are wiping out the last of the great fish in the
Mediterranean.
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization, which
uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global
environmental problems, and to force solutions essential to a green
and peaceful future.
Other contacts: Sebastián Losada, Greenpeace Spain oceans campaigner, in Malta, on +34 626 99 82 54 François Provost, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner, in Malta, on +33 623 590 963 Szabina Moses, Greenpeace International media officer, in Malta, on +36 20 515 5928 Onboard the Rainbow Warrior +871 324 453 510 Isabel Leal, Greenpeace International media officer, in Spain, on +34 647 24 15 02.
Notes: (1) In previous years catches of BFT have been as high as 50,000 tonnes despite only 32,000 tonnes could be fished legally. (2) FAO, 2004, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, biennial report)(3) Myers RA, Worm B, 2003, Rapid World Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities, Nature 423: 280-3.
Exp. contact date: 2007-06-15 00:00:00