The editorial Tuna Industry Entangled In Libyan Crisis (April 14) addressed the situation in Libya and its effect on the Maltese tuna farming sector as well as the situation of the bluefin tuna stock in the Mediterranean. We understand the call by The Times for more information on the economic and environmental sustainability of the sector but also perceive that there is still much misinformation on the actual state of the fishery today. A number of observations therefore need to be made.
Firstly, concerning the situation in Libya, it is worth noting that the Libyan Fisheries Agency has in a very responsible manner taken a decision not to fish for tuna during the coming season. This decision was communicated to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna by the Libyan authorities last week. As a result, therefore, the Libyan quota will, for this year, not be fished. Fishing in what is effectively a war zone evidently does not appear to be possible on practical grounds in any case.
Secondly, The Times commented about the long-term sustainability and the economic viability of the industry. Nowadays, we have a quota that is set at a figure which has been described by EU and ICCAT scientists as sustainable. It is a realistic figure that is backed up by scientific evidence and which sets a timeline for full recovery of the stock.
Besides the quota, however, the tuna fishery in the Mediterranean is saddled with a mass of regulations that are rigorously enforced. A mass of controls are now in place to ensure compliance with the quotas, including observers, equipment, keeping and checking records at all stages of the process from the capture to the harvesting in the farms. At the same time, we are witnessing dramatic capacity reduction exercises, which have seen Mediterranean fleets cut down drastically. The controls in place show that the quotas are being respected and we are accordingly expecting the stocks to recover fully over the next few years. There are already very encouraging signs for this recovery and the 2010 stock assessment by ICCAT scientists has established beyond doubt that the species is more abundant than previously thought and that, with the present quota, the stocks should recover to their pre-exploitation figures shortly.
The Mediterranean quota stands at 12,900 tons, which is about 25 per cent of the worldwide bluefin tuna catch. Out of these 12,900 tons we expect that less than 10,000 tons will be caught this year because of the loss of the Libyan quota (which is not passed on) and because the French fleet is obliged to renounce to part of its quota as a payback for overfishing a few years ago. Out of these remaining 10,000 tons we expect that less than 50 per cent will be allotted to purse seiners, the remainder being given to long-liners and by artisanal fishing methods. In the past year, the Maltese farms have managed to purchase about 20 per cent of the total catch caught by purse seiners in the Mediterranean.
We are therefore dealing with very small amounts of fish. Fishing for bluefin tuna worldwide represents about four per cent by tonnage of the species of tuna fished. Most of the worldwide tuna catch is today exploited for canned products, which are generally cheap. Bluefin tuna is not cheap and is not utilised by the canning industry.
The volume of fish being handled by Maltese farms is therefore extremely small. Despite being small, however, the industry remains highly valuable and actually adds considerable value to the fishery. This is achieved in two ways. Firstly, because there is the growth factor that has to be taken into account – a catch of 100 tons can easily increase by 40 to 50 per cent if the fish is bred for a year. Secondly, we can ensure that all fish harvested in the farm is of sushi/sashimi standard against a very small portion of fish caught in the wild.
Therefore, despite not having an appreciable tuna fishing industry, we are able to add value to fisheries caught by other fleets. Nearly all of the fish farmed in Malta is exported to Japan and other countries such as Korea and the US, generating much-needed currency for the Maltese economy.
A study commissioned in 2009 by the industry shows that the fish farming sector in Malta employs directly or indirectly the equivalent of 1,000 full-time jobs.
We lastly disagree with the comment about the natural disasters in Japan doing more for the species than ICCAT and the EU. Today, it is true to say that the bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean is the most highly regulated and the best managed tuna fishery worldwide. That this is so is in part because the states forming part of ICCAT have the will power and the means to regulate the stock. It is also because in today’s day and age economic operators such as the Maltese farming sector are increasingly aware of their environmental obligations and are doing their bit to ensure the long-term viability of the fishery.
Dr Refalo is secretary of the Federation of Maltese Aquaculture Producers.