Deal on tuna exports sealed

Tuna fishermen will this year be getting €9.50 (Lm4.08) per kilo with the possibility of earning a staggering €3.3 million (Lm1,420,000) if they manage to reach their quota of 376 tonnes allocated by the EU.

The deal on this year's prices was sealed between the two fishermen's cooperatives and a Maltese contractor who will export the fish to Japan on their behalf.

Attending the contract signing ceremony, Frans Agius, Parliamentary Secretary at the Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry, said this is the best price ever negotiated by tuna fishermen.

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

However, the stock of bluefin tuna, found only in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, 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 to restock.