Commissioner dismayed at resistance over bluefin tuna

In a rare statement of criticism, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik made it clear he was very disappointed with the attitude of Malta and other Mediterranean member states over bluefin tuna quotas for 2011.

He branded “insufficient” the recent decision by the Inter-national Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) to reduce the EU’s total bluefin tuna catches next year by 600 tons.

He said the position against further cuts taken by Malta, France, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, Greece and Portugal restricted the Commission’s room for manoeuvre to obtain better results.

“ICCAT’s decision is not what I hoped for and I regret the fact that EU member states did not support the Commission’s position,” he charged.

Malta was vehemently opposed to a Commission pro-posal to bring the 2011 quota down to about 6,000 from the 13,500 tons allowed this year. Forming a front with other Mediterranean member states, the island managed to restrict the Commission’s negotiating position to insignificant cuts.

Following ICCAT’s nego-tiations in Paris, Malta’s quota remains practically untouched at 161 tons as the overall catch was tweaked down to 12,900 tons.

Mr Potocnik said ICCAT’s conclusions were “worrying” with regard to the future sustainability of bluefin tuna stocks. “The probability of bluefin tuna recovery following the ICCAT decision is far too low to be sufficient,” he said.

In its 2009 report, the ICCAT Scientific Committee stressed that, unless fishing mortality rates were substantially reduced in the near future, a likely reduction in spawning stock risked fisheries and stock collapse. For the Commission, these conclusions were cause for concern.

“Although ICCAT insists the agreed quota of 12,900 tonnes follows scientific advice, many are arguing the same scientific advice clearly indicates this quota is much too high to allow stocks to recover with a reasonable and acceptable level of probability,” Mr Potocnik said. “I think it is important we follow scientific advice but it is also clear to me there are serious knowledge gaps which would need to be addressed urgently.”

In recent years, Malta has become one of the most important players in the international bluefin tuna trade, so much so its ranching facilities are considered to be the biggest in the Mediterranean. According to Maltese ranchers, in 2008, Malta exported about €80 million worth of tuna to Japan.

Greenpeace, which was also dismayed at the new quota, says about 2,800 tons of bluefin tuna caught last year are still being held in Maltese fish farms because ranchers were unable to sell them to Japan. It cites this, along with the 10,000 tons still held in EU ranches, as evidence that there is no need for more fishing next year.