Malta declares opposition to further tuna cuts

Malta has declared its position against further cuts in tuna quotas for the 2011 season insisting there was clear scientific evidence that tuna stocks were recovering.

Clearly taking the side of Malta’s fishing industry, which has already warned further cuts will make tuna fishing no longer economically viable, Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino told his colleagues during an EU Fisheries Council in Luxembourg earlier this week that “further cuts at this stage are not justified”. He appealed to the European Commission to review its stand.

Malta’s position was supported by all other EU member states whose fishermen catch bluefin tuna, including Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

Sources close to the Council said only the UK and Germany agreed with the Commission’s position to impose further cuts.

Despite the strong resistance by member states, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki is still insisting substantial cuts should be introduced in 2011 in order to save bluefin tuna stocks from extinction.

The issue is now expected to be tackled again by EU ambassadors before the final stand is adopted by the EU in view of global negotiations to be held in Paris next month on the 2011 quotas during a meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

Maltese fishermen have already seen their annual tuna quotas slashed during the past years, down from 344 tons in 2008 to 161 tons this year.

A further cut, as the one being cited in Brussels, would mean Maltese fishermen will remain with a quota of 71 tons this year, which, according to the local industry, would make ­fishing for bluefin tuna unprofitable.

A spokesman for the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers, representing both fishermen and tuna ranchers, had said scientific data showed there was no need for any further cuts and warned of illegal fishing if EU ministers forged ahead with the move.