As a result of bluefin tuna’s high price in international markets, the Mediterranean fishery which targets this species holds one of the highest rates of illegal fishing in the world. Greenpeace had raised early warnings on the depletion of the eastern stock of bluefin tuna already in the 90's, even before the tuna fattening business started to take off in the region. During the last ten years the bluefin tuna industry, strongly supported by many Governments which are Contracting Parties to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), invested millions of euros in building both fishing and farming capacity in the Mediterranean. This trend is unfortunately ongoing. The levels reached today are not only unsustainable from an environmental point of view, but also inefficient from a purely economic perspective.

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