November 23, 2016 — A world body of fishing and shipping nations approved a catch quota yesterday to protect the overharvested Mediterranean swordfish, the EU and conservation group Oceana said.
The limit was set at 10,500 tonnes for 2017 at a meeting of the 51-member International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Vilamoura, Portugal.
It will be reduced by three per cent per year between 2018 and 2022.
“It’s done. Finally, ICCAT on its 50th anniversary moved a step forward on this too long-neglected stock,” Oceana’s Ilaria Vielmini said in the coastal town where the commission held its annual meeting.