“Today, I reiterated to Secretary Salazar my strong opposition to listing bluefin tuna under CITES,” said Senator Snowe.  “It is the wrong policy decision at the wrong time for this fishery and for our coastal economy.  ICCAT has committed to scientifically-based catch limits that will rebuild the population, and we should give proper fisheries management the chance to do its job instead of imposing restrictions that quite simply will not achieve the desired outcome of rebuilding bluefin populations.”   

On March 3, 2010, the Department of Interior announced that it intends to support Monaco’s proposal to list bluefin under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), even though last November, the International Commission on Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) took strong strides towards responsible management, cutting the total allowable catch of the eastern stock to just 13,500 metric tons (more than a 40% reduction from 2009), and committing to impose catch limits that have at least a 60% probability of rebuilding the stock by 2023 following the new scientific assessment that will be presented at the 2010 meeting next fall. U.S. landings of bluefin have declined steadily from 2000-2008, due in large part to increasingly strict management provisions designed to protect this valuable species.  In 2000, US fishermen caught over 1100 metric tons of bluefin worth more than $19.1 million.  By 2008, those figures had declined to just over 300 metric tons valued at $4.7 million. 

“U.S. fishermen have led the world in efforts to reduce harvest and rebuild depleted stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna.  Supporting policies that will further disadvantage our industry sends a terrible message to fishermen and to the rest of the world that doing the right thing and imposing strict domestic harvest reductions will only beget greater penalties,” added Senator Snowe.  “We should pursue policies that reward nations like the U.S. that manage domestic fisheries responsibly.”    

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