Fishing piracy killing off Mediterranean tuna, says new Greenpeace report

"The commercial extinction of bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean Sea is just around the corner," said Sebastian Losada of Greenpeace Spain. "The stock is being plundered by fishing pirates to satisfy the commercial greed of the tuna ranching industry (2) which itself is being hypocritically subsidised by both the EU and the Mediterranean countries themselves. It is grotesque that the greatest culprits are the fishing fleets from Mediterranean countries such as France."

The report "Where have all the tuna gone?" demonstrates that:

• catches exceed by more than 12,000 tonnes (37%) the legal quota;
• EU subsidies to the tuna ranching industry have been as high as $34 million over the last decade;
• tuna ranch capacity in the Mediterranean is at least 51,012  tonnes, exceeding by almost 60% the Total Allowable Catches adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas [ICCAT]: an indisputable incentive for illegal catches in the region.

For five years the WWF has denounced the uncontrolled expansion of tuna ranching in the Mediterranean, which is exacerbating illegal fishing of bluefin tuna. WWF is about to release a technical study containing the first accurate assessment of real catches of the bluefin tuna stock, which is expected to confirm the illegal catch figures reported by Greenpeace.

Both studies show clearly that pirate fishing for bluefin tuna is rampant in the region, and those responsible for the plunder are prominent members of ICCAT, the organisation supposedly managing the fishery.

"The bluefin tuna is nearing commercial and ecological extinction. ICCAT must immediately extend its one-month seasonal fishing ban in the region to at least three months starting from 1st July, in  order to effectively reduce overfishing," said Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office.

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza is in Barcelona this week on the beginning of the fourth leg of its 14-month global expedition "Defending Our Oceans", the most ambitious ship expedition ever undertaken by the organisation.(3) Greenpeace is calling on the countries of the Mediterranean to protect bluefin tuna with marine reserves in their breeding and feeding areas.

"A small number of tuna ranching companies and investors are stealing what was once a shared resource from hundreds of fisherman trying to make a legitimate living from the bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean," said Karli Thomas of Greenpeace International.  "Greenpeace will work on the high seas in the coming months to expose the tuna pirates. The Mediterranean public has a right to know -where have all the tuna gone?" concluded Thomas.

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to drive solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.