Blue Fin Tuna Quota

Bluefin tuna fishing quota cut not enough, say green groups

November 28th 2008
A meeting of fisheries ministers from 46 countries in Morocco this week that was meant to save the bluefin tuna from extinction may instead have sounded the death knell for the giant fish, environmentalist groups say. Member states of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) agreed unanmously to limit the global quota for bluefin tuna next year to 22,000 tons, 22 percent less than this year, but well above the 15,000 tons the ICCAT’s own scientists described as the maximum if stocks are to recover. Spain is Europe’s biggest tuna fisher, capturing 5,500 tons last year, mostly for export to Japan. But Spanish captures have dwindled by 85 percent since 1999. The head of fisheries resources at the Environment Ministry, Fernando Curcio, said it was better to have a “unanimous accord” than one that some countries, such as Morocco, Libya and Turkey, would not accept. RAFAEL MÉNDEZ, Madrid (Source : El Pais International Edition)

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