GREENPEACE WARNS WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE FISH IS ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE

A Greenpeace report released in May (1) shows catches are currently one and
a half times the amount legally permitted. This is confirmed by the ICCAT
Scientific Committee (2).

“The Mediterranean tuna fishing industry is engaged in a race to catch the
last fish. They are wiping out the stocks and destroying their own future,"
said Sebastian Losada, Greenpeace Spain Oceans Campaigner.

Greenpeace found evidence that EU vessels use spotter planes to identify
schools of tuna at a time when this is strictly prohibited; observed illegal
fishing by Japanese large-scale longliners during a period when the fishery
is supposed to be closed to them; witnessed some of the most powerful tuna fishing vessels failing to find any tuna schools during part of the peak
fishing season in the eastern Mediterranean; and documented the Turkish
fleet fishing in the Gulf of Iskenderun where it is claimed to be catching
over-quota.

Greenpeace is demanding that ICCAT cut the total allowable catch for bluefin tuna in half, prohibit industrial fishing for bluefin tuna during its
breeding and spawning seasons, create a new minimum landing size and the
close key breeding areas of the Mediterranean (especially around the
Balearic Islands). The environmental group will also be pressing for new
rules to stop pirate fishing including an independent observer scheme; a
binding agreement to eliminate overcapacity in the fishery, and the outlawing of at-sea transshipment except in specifically monitored and designated areas. Finally, Greenpeace will draw attention to the problem of tuna ‘farming’, which is used to "launder" bluefin tuna in the region. (3)

"Time is running out for the northern bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean. It
is very difficult to find cases in which scientific advice is so crystal clear. Unless these steps are taken now, ICCAT will be remembered as managing the collapse of one of the most important and profitable fisheries of our time, the decimation of one of the oceans’ champion species, and the disintegration of a way of life for the fishermen of the region." said Stephan Beaucher, Greenpeace France Oceans Campaigner.