Malta's bluefin tuna quota likely to be cut

The European Commission is next January expected to impose an equal 10 per cent cut to bluefin tuna quota allocations for 2007 on all its member states, including Malta.

According to a senior Commission official, the final national allocations will be decided following another meeting of ICCAT, the global body which oversees the rules over tuna fishing, in Japan, where the Commission will be negotiating with another 39 partner members, the 2007 allocations.

The official said that at this meeting, the Commission will defend the agreement negotiated in Croatia a few days ago, for a global EU quota of 29,500 tonnes.

According to the Commission's plan, Malta's bluefin tuna quota, which currently stands at 344 tonnes, is expected to go down to 310 tonnes in 2007. This quota will eventually go down further, to a maximum decrease of 25 per cent in four years' time, as part of an ICCAT plan to regenerate tuna stocks in the Mediterranean.

The Commission official explained that Maltese fishermen are not the only ones to suffer a reduction in quota.

"The reduction will be imposed equally on all the European fishermen who fish for bluefin tuna. This is after all a medium-term recovery plan which at the end of the day will benefit all the Mediterranean fishermen. For example, no one can expect Italian fishermen to cut their quota while the Spaniards remain with the same allocation. The same applies to Malta. All member states will have to do some sacrifice," he said. Following the deal reached at ICCAT, Maltese fishermen levelled harsh criticism at the European Commission, particularly Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, claiming that the deal meant a serious blow to their livelihood.

Dr Borg yesterday also referred to the issue during a press conference in Brussels during which he presented the Commission's plans to limit the fishing of other stocks of fish, such as cod, hake and sole, caught particularly in the northern European seas. Dr Borg defended the agreement reached on tuna and said it was in the interest of all the Mediterranean fishermen.

He said that the Commission maintains that the agreement will give a chance to bluefin tuna stocks to recover without the need of extreme measures to be imposed on fishermen in the future.

The majority of Maltese fishermen will not be affected by season closures for longliners as these only apply to vessels over 24 metres, he added.

In the case of Malta there is only one fishing vessel registered as falling into the "over 24 metres" category.