EU condemned on tuna 'mockery'

[ibis]

The EU Commission has played an important role in ruining what may well have been the last chance for the recovery of Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks. Scientific advice put the maximum sustainable catch at 15,000 tonnes, and advised total closure of the fishery in the spawning months of May and June - but representatives of the nations involved in the ICCAT process that determines catches rejected closure of the fisheries, and set the total allowable catch at 22,000 tonnes, 50% above the scientific advice.

The blame is largely being laid at the door of the EU Commission, which was empowered to negotiate on behalf of the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers, and which pressed strongly for the higher total catch. (Source: BBC)

This is appalling behaviour from the Commission, particularly damning in the light of a press release issued just days before the ICCAT meeting started, where European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Joe Borg, said: “This year’s ICCAT meeting really is make-or-break for the bluefin tuna fishery. The recovery plan is a step in the right direction, but scientists tell us it has not gone far enough. The status quo is no longer an option. We need far more rigorous action, including real measures to bring capacity into line with the state of resources. Above all, we need to see ICCAT become an organization which honours its own commitments in practice. 2009 has to be ICCAT’s ‘Year of Compliance’.”

If the Commission was aware that this was a "make or break year for bluefin tuna", why did it choose to become part of the problem rather than the solution?

[zeleneye]

If the Commission was aware that this was a "make or break year for bluefin tuna", why did it choose to become part of the problem rather than the solution?

Its been make or break for Atlantic bluefin for the last 5 years. The Commission is madated to negotiate on behalf of the EU but it gets its mandate from the Council and, on the issue of tuna fisheries, the mediterranean states in particular.

Tuna fisheries are big business - as with most fisheries, there is no such thing as small fishermen anymore. A significant amount of the tuna quota goes to Italy, where a significant amount of the business is controlled by the mafia.

The sad fact is that - outside of those states with a vested interest - no other member state really cares. I mean, its only a fish after all! I am sure they are getting their backs scratched in return for presiding over the downfall of Atlantic Bluefin. Fisheries is perhaps the most depressing EU policy area and the Irish government has been very complicit in defending the disgraceful CFP - all so it can negotiate quotas that are the private fiefdom of Atlantic Dawn fisheries.

I could go on...