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Overfishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean may be leading to collapse of the population.
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We’ve followed some of the most important fishing fleets in the
region. The news isn’t good. We spent a week with Spanish and French
fishermen in the waters north of Egypt. In the entire time, not a
single tuna was caught. We waited with them to find tuna. We saw them
standing with empty nets.
In southern Turkey, fishermen are reporting lower catches and smaller fish. They’ve only been fishing intensively in the region for five years, and already they are seeing the effects. The fishermen are worried, and so are we. All evidence points to the desperate state of the fishery for the whole region.
In May, we issued a report detailing the problems facing bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. Our research found that up to 45,000 tonnes of tuna is being caught every year - as much as 13,000 tonnes (29 percent) over the legal limit. How is this possible? As we discovered by speaking to fishermen, it’s a combination of underreporting, quota-swapping deals between countries and general mismanagement.
Greed before science
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) allocates fishing quotas to different Mediterranean countries. The levels that they allocate are already over what scientists recommend. Most countries don’t have data on what tuna their ships catch, and if they do it’s frequently underreported. Large fishing fleets are encroaching on tuna breeding and feeding areas. High-tech fishing practices, sometimes carried out illegally, leave no chance for the fish.
Tuna fished out of the Mediterranean are towed in cages to tuna ranches in the region. Once they’re in the cages, these sea giants are swimming sushi. The intensive fish farms pollute the local coastline, and are incredibly wasteful. It can take up to 20kg of bait to produce 1kg of tuna. This bait is less marketable fish brought in to feed them from other regions, and it can bring new diseases with it.
Literally, a race to catch the last fish
The Mediterranean tuna ranches are in the hands of a few key investors. This story is a classic example of short-term gain for long-term damage, and the major players are not the fishermen who’ve been fishing tuna sustainably in the region for thousands of years.
There’s a general pattern collapse of fish populations, like the cod and Western bluefin tuna, where fishing increases and methods become more sophisticated as catches go down. It looks like Mediterranean bluefin tuna are going the same way.
What we know now
“A month ago we asked the question: Where have all the tuna gone? Well, now we know the answer - we may be witnessing the collapse of the bluefin tuna stock from the Mediterranean Sea," said Sebastián Losada of Greenpeace Spain aboard the Esperanza.
We are calling on the countries of the Mediterranean to protect bluefin tuna with marine reserves in their breeding and feeding areas. They would become part of a global network of marine parks across 40 percent of the world's oceans that are needed to give the oceans a chance to recover from decades of large-scale industrial exploitation.
The Esperanza is continuing its global Defending Our Oceans tour. From here we head into the Red Sea, but our sister ship, the Rainbow Warrior will continue the work in the Mediterranean.
Read updates from the Rainbow Warrior.
Esperanza crew weblog.
Sign up as an Ocean Defender.
In southern Turkey, fishermen are reporting lower catches and smaller fish. They’ve only been fishing intensively in the region for five years, and already they are seeing the effects. The fishermen are worried, and so are we. All evidence points to the desperate state of the fishery for the whole region.
In May, we issued a report detailing the problems facing bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. Our research found that up to 45,000 tonnes of tuna is being caught every year - as much as 13,000 tonnes (29 percent) over the legal limit. How is this possible? As we discovered by speaking to fishermen, it’s a combination of underreporting, quota-swapping deals between countries and general mismanagement.
Greed before science
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) allocates fishing quotas to different Mediterranean countries. The levels that they allocate are already over what scientists recommend. Most countries don’t have data on what tuna their ships catch, and if they do it’s frequently underreported. Large fishing fleets are encroaching on tuna breeding and feeding areas. High-tech fishing practices, sometimes carried out illegally, leave no chance for the fish.
Tuna fished out of the Mediterranean are towed in cages to tuna ranches in the region. Once they’re in the cages, these sea giants are swimming sushi. The intensive fish farms pollute the local coastline, and are incredibly wasteful. It can take up to 20kg of bait to produce 1kg of tuna. This bait is less marketable fish brought in to feed them from other regions, and it can bring new diseases with it.
Literally, a race to catch the last fish
The Mediterranean tuna ranches are in the hands of a few key investors. This story is a classic example of short-term gain for long-term damage, and the major players are not the fishermen who’ve been fishing tuna sustainably in the region for thousands of years.
There’s a general pattern collapse of fish populations, like the cod and Western bluefin tuna, where fishing increases and methods become more sophisticated as catches go down. It looks like Mediterranean bluefin tuna are going the same way.
What we know now
“A month ago we asked the question: Where have all the tuna gone? Well, now we know the answer - we may be witnessing the collapse of the bluefin tuna stock from the Mediterranean Sea," said Sebastián Losada of Greenpeace Spain aboard the Esperanza.
We are calling on the countries of the Mediterranean to protect bluefin tuna with marine reserves in their breeding and feeding areas. They would become part of a global network of marine parks across 40 percent of the world's oceans that are needed to give the oceans a chance to recover from decades of large-scale industrial exploitation.
The Esperanza is continuing its global Defending Our Oceans tour. From here we head into the Red Sea, but our sister ship, the Rainbow Warrior will continue the work in the Mediterranean.
Read updates from the Rainbow Warrior.
Esperanza crew weblog.
Sign up as an Ocean Defender.