WWF says bluefin tuna quota increase ‘too much too soon’

Global conservation organisation WWF (World Wildlife Fund) criticised the agreed increase in the fishing quota for Mediterranean bluefin fishing tuna as too “rapid…especially while little progress has been made to strengthen traceability in this fishery.”

“It might seem a paradox, but the bluefin tuna case confirms that sometimes it’s more difficult to manage a success than a crisis,” Dr. Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries Programme at WWF Mediterranean said. “It’s hard to apply the term ‘moderate’ to an annual increase of 20% over 3 years. We are concerned that the huge conservation efforts of the last years might quickly fade away.”

Mediterranean fishing nations agreed at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) to an annual fishing increase of nearly 20%, from 13,500 tonnes in 2014 to 19,296 in 2016. Fishing quotas for 2017 have initially been set at 23,255 tonnes but will be reviewed based on the results of a stock assessment exercise scheduled for 16. This followed a report published by the ICCAT’s Standing Committee on Research and Statistics that bluefin tuna populations in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean are recovering.

Following a two-month technical verification mission, the European Commission certified Malta as fully compliant with ICCAT’s tuna quota rise recommendations, allowing it to fish more bluefin tuna. 

“This is the first time that Malta has achieved such compliance, as a result of serious endeavours,” Fisheries parliamentary secretary Roderick Galdes said. “This certification from the European Commission is benefical and confirms Malta as a serious operator in this sector which yields an annual export cost of around €100 million, also generating employment for Maltese citizens.” Galdes said.

However, the WWF warned that current signs of an ongoing recovery in the bluefin tuna population have generated “over-optimistic expectations from a part of the industry and certain fishing nations”.

“It’s time now for fishers, traders, retailers and consumers to take greater responsibility to ensure that bluefin tuna recovery fully materializes and is a long-lasting reality,” said Dr. Gemma Quílez-Badia, Fisheries Officer at WWF Mediterranean. “WWF encourages bluefin tuna fisheries to demonstrate fully meeting sustainability and traceability criteria.”