The WWF is urging fishing boats to stay in port this Saturday as they prepare to set out into the Mediterranean sea for the start of the annual Atlantic bluefin fishing season. The conservation agency wants a cessation to the exploitation of the species at least until a fisheries management plan is presented that is scientifically based and halts the use of damaging industrial fishing methods.

Honouring CITES

Such a move would be a significant step towards honouring the agreements made at CITIES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) at Doha, Qatar in March. Here several governments agreed to follow scientific advice in fisheries management and allow the exhausted blue fin tuna stocks time to recover.

Endangered

Currently the species exists at just 15% of previous levels and is by any criteria endangered, and yet year on year governments allow large purse seine fishing ships to cast their nets over vast shoals of blue fin gathering to spawn decimating the species population.

Well Done Italy

WWF applauds Italy’s decision to impose a moratorium this year on its own large purse seine fleet and a commitment to abandon the use of the majority of these ships in the future and urges other Mediterranean countries to follow suit.

Recovery Plan

The WWF is also beseeching the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to keep to their agreement to sustainable fisheries management. When the regional management organisation in charge of Atlantic bluefin tuna fisheries meets this November in Paris the WWF expects them to put in place a sound recovery plan that will include a massive cut in sanctioned catches to well below 8,000 tonnes, a number at which blue fin have at the most a 50% chance of recovery.

Blow

Bluefin were already dealt a significant blow this year when the proposal to list the species under Appendix I of CITIES was rejected by the majority of the 150 countries present at the convention, owing to immense pressure from the Japanese government, the largest consumer of blue fin tuna.

Despite this drawback principle ICCAT member countries, crucially the EU, Japan, the U.S., Canada and Norway, did commit to take drastic steps to effect a recovery of the species when they meet this Novemeber.

“Setting management measures not in line with scientific advice is no longer an option,” said ICCAT chair Dr Fabio Hazin at CITIES this March.

Supporting Science

Principally the WWF is expecting the EU and Japan to take the lead in making these changes as the greatest catchers and consumers of blue fin tuna and to support the new science based management policy.

“WWF’s wish is that this will be remembered as the year the world did good by Atlantic bluefin tuna. This is our watch – let’s make it our finest hour.”  said WWF’s Dr Tudela.

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