Fishermen allowed to catch more tuna

Maltese fishermen will this year be allowed to catch more bluefin tuna than last year despite an overall cut in the EU quota as part of a European Commission recovery plan.

Talks at EU ministerial level in Brussels led to Malta being given a quota of a maximum of 343.64 tonnes for 2008. However, as last year's quota was not fully utilised, the Commission has accepted a request by the Maltese authorities to add a few more tonnes to the quota for this coming season, usually starting in May.

"Malta is this year expected to end up with a quota of about 360 tonnes," sources close to the Commission told The Times. "In 2007, the Maltese authorities reported that fishermen landed some 20 tonnes of tuna below the quota. In compensation, this will now be added to this year's quota."

During last year's tuna season, Maltese fishermen did not manage to catch as much tuna as expected, so much so that they did not use all the quota of 355.5 tonnes.

Bluefin tuna catches are considered to provide very lucrative income for Maltese fisherman as freshly-caught fish are exported directly to Japan to be used in the sushi trade.

The stock of bluefin tuna found only in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean has been over-fished for many years and scientists have repeatedly warned of the danger of collapse if nothing was done to dramatically reduce the level of fishing activity. In particular, high rates of undeclared over-fishing have been singled out as a key cause of the decline of the stock.

Following an international agreement, the European Commission last year started implementing a rigorous and comprehensive recovery plan including a new control and enforcement scheme designed to combat over-fishing.

Through specific allocations of quota to its member states fishing for this species, the Commission is hoping to cut catches by 25 per cent over a period of four years. According to the Commission this will give time for tuna stocks to recover.