International & Trade

November 26, 2012 — Oceana, an official observer at the International Commision for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) special meeting this week, has welcomed the steps taken for Eastern bluefin tuna management in 2013, but has grave concerns about the lack of new measures for threatened highly migratory species of sharks.

Contracting Parties to ICCAT adopted a catch limit of 13 400 t for Eastern Bluefin tuna, with an additional allowance of 100 t for Algeria. Measures beyond 2013 will be determined on the basis of new science.

Maria José Cornax, Fisheries Campaign Manager for Oceana Europe, stated: “The outcomes of this meeting reflect a baffling, contradictory approach within ICCAT. We welcome the willingness of ICCAT CPCs to stay on the path towards bluefin tuna recovery in 2013, but we are extremely concerned about the future of ICCAT’s ‘forgotten species’.”

Cornax added: “ICCAT is much more than bluefin tuna. ICCAT must remove its blinders and look beyond this one fish, to the many other stocks for which it is responsible.”

Seven proposals had been tabled that aimed to enhance the protection and management of threatened sharks in the ICCAT Convention area. Of these, only one vague measure was adopted, claims Oceana, related to compliance with existing measures. Oceana has expressed its extreme disappointment, particularly with the failure to adopt EU, science-based proposals to protect endangered porbeagles and to cap fishing pressure on shortfin makos, which are threatened, but commercially fished without any limits or management.

Dr. Allison Perry, shark expert and Oceana Europe marine wildlife scientist, condemned the abandonment of sharks at this year’s meeting: “ICCAT has failed to assume their responsibility for managing shark fisheries in the Atlantic. Allowing stocks to become seriously depleted, and then prohibiting their capture does not qualify as responsible management. Sharks represent more than 15% of all reported catches in ICCAT, yet most sharks caught in ICCAT fisheries remain completely unmanaged.”

Read the full story at Fishupdate.com

November 20, 2012 — A GROUP of US fishermen feels let down by the American Government’s stance on tuna quotas at the recent ICCAT meeting in Morocco.

According to the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Association (ABTA), the bluefin tuna stock assessment results, presented by the ICCAT scientists, indicated great news for both eastern and western Atlantic bluefin populations – with the third western Atlantic stock assessment consistently demonstrating an increase in biomass and exceeding the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).

ICCAT scientists also have good news for the eastern bluefin tuna populations, bluefin that are harvested chiefly in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. The ICCAT stock assessment for the eastern fishery validates a significant recovery trend in biomass after high restrictive regulatory measures were put in place in 2007, having the effect of ending prior overharvesting of bluefin tuna in that region and allowing for the process of recovery of eastern bluefin tuna biomass.

Despite rapid stock improvements, made possible by strict compliance with restrictive quotas and other restrictive regulations relating to minimum length of fish and daily catch limits, the tuna industries from the west Atlantic (US, Canada and Japan), in the interest of conservation, collectively opted to request for a precautionary quota of a modest 2,000 metric tons (MT), up from the prior quota level of 1,750 MT set by ICCAT two years ago, but substantially below the scientifically justified level of Maximum Sustainable Yield.

Despite this the ABTA feels that the US government position and objective at the ICCAT meeting, set by the NOAA’s Dr Jane Lubchenko, was to seek another dramatic reduction in the western quota below the quota level set by ICCAT two years ago.

Read the full article at Fishnewseu

AGADIR, Morocco — November 19, 2012 — Fishing countries on Monday voted to keep up strict limits on catching Atlantic Bluefin tuna, overruling fierce opposition from critics who argue that the key sushi ingredient is on the rebound.

Observers at a week-long meeting in the Moroccan resort of Agadir said some countries pushed for removing tough quotas, but that the 48-member international organization of fishing nations decided the devastated population still needed time to rebuild.

Stocks of bluefin in the Atlantic Ocean fell catastrophically due to rampant, often illegal, overfishing and lax quotas — dropping by 60 percent between 1997 and 2007. Although there has been some improvement, experts say the outlook for the species is still fragile.

“It is always difficult for this commission to make decision. It has 48 members and the views are very varied,” said Masanori Miyahara, the head of the Japanese delegation and chairman of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. “After a long wait, the bluefin tuna is showing signs of recovery — we have to move step by step and follow scientific advice.”

The quota will be allowed to rise slightly from 12,900 metric tons a year to 13,500 — the upper limit recommended by scientists in 2006. Quotas were as high as 32,000 tons in 2006.

Environmentalists welcomed Monday’s decision, saying it will maintain the recovery for at least the next year. The decision will be reviewed in 2014, though the original scientific recommendation called for maintaining the quotas through 2022.

Read the full article at the Washington Post

PARIS — November 19, 2012 — The international commission responsible for the conservation of the Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna agreed Monday to hold the 2013 fishing quota close to this year’s number despite modest signs of an improvement in stocks of the bluefin, the world’s most valuable fish.

Delegates of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or Iccat, recommended a total bluefin catch of up to 13,500 tons next year in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, up marginally from 12,900 tons this year.

A Canadian proposal to raise the quota for the Western Atlantic stock, which is managed separately, went nowhere, and it will remain at the current 1,750 tons.

Iccat’s bluefin discussions, held in Agadir, Morocco, differed markedly from some held in the recent past in which conservationists fought for quota reductions amid signs that the stock might be on the verge of collapse. This year, a stock assessment by Iccat scientists suggested that the Mediterranean bluefin population had recovered a bit, with fish mortality declining and stock biomass showing “a clear increase.”

The scientists warned that the data on which they based their models remains sketchy, partly because of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Mediterranean, and they called for a conservative approach.

The biomass of the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin has declined by about 30 percent over the last two decades, particularly since the onset of tuna “ranching” for the sushi trade, and the fish is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Conservationists generally welcomed indications that Iccat member states are following the scientific recommendations. “They listened to the scientists this time,” said Susan Lieberman, director of international policy at the Pew Environment Group. “This is an organization that has had a long history of ignoring the science.”

Read the full article at the New York Times