Nature Trust (Malta) as a partner of the World Wildlife Fund joins WWF in calling for caution on requests to re increase tuna catch quotas by the Maltese Government.

The Government had said that “the Bluefin Tuna has undergone one of the most remarkable recoveries, with the sector now enjoying the most advanced system of management and control measures in the world.”

In this context, Malta said that it is calling for a substantial increase in Bluefin Tuna quota.

This position was made clear by Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Roderick Galdes, during the Agriculture and Fisheries council held in Luxembourg in the past days.

The Maltese delegation argued that the sector’s recovery should now be used to give a strong signal that conservation measures do pay, and explained that these signals can only be given through an immediate, fair, and substantial increase in the Bluefin Tuna quota.

WWF said that after ICCAT’s Scientific Committee (SCRS1) gathered in the last days in Madrid to assess the situation of the bluefin tuna in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean, WWF calls for cautious optimism and continued guarantees to ensure the full recovery of the species’ population.

“In spite of the high uncertainties surrounding the assessment, one thing appears clear today: the stock is no longer at risk of collapse, and this is a direct result of the current recovery plan. However, strong concerns remain, particularly regarding the traceability of the fish,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

An update of the last bluefin tuna stock assessment was carried out last week by the scientific Committee of ICCAT in Madrid, Spain, in order to advise managers at the next ICCAT meeting which will take place in Genoa, Italy, from 10 to 17 November 2014.

Scientists concluded that the management efforts developed in recent years have resulted in an increase in population size, even including the possibility that the stock might soon recover to sustainable levels (the so-called Maximum Sustainable Yield level – MSY).

However, they strongly warn of the huge uncertainties surrounding the assessment exercise, which have made it impossible to agree on robust advice to the Commission.

“In order to ensure a sustainable fishery reliable data is important, but adequate means to fight Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU) are also crucial,” said Dr Gemma Quilez Badia, WWF’s scientist attending the stock assessment and the SCRS meeting in Madrid.

A cornerstone of the current recovery plan is the ICCAT’s Bluefin Tuna Catch Document (BCD), which aims to ensure full traceability from catch to market.

A recent WWF study led by an international expert concludes the current BCD system is plagued with shortcomings that compromise its ability to keep illegal bluefin products out of the market. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the current ICCAT BCD does not meet the minimum standards required under the EU IUU Regulation.

“Reforming ICCAT’s BCD is a task of the utmost urgency to eradicate the illegal practices that have been plaguing this fishery, by ensuring only legal fish enters the global markets,” said Dr Gemma Quilez. “WWF’s study includes more than 50 concrete proposals to close loopholes and turn the current BCD scheme into a real tool to ensure traceability of bluefin tuna products.”

“We might be very close to what would be a resounding success in the history of fisheries, the dream of a sustainable bluefin tuna fishery in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Atlantic -let’s hope the lessons of the past have been fully learnt and that – at least this time – history doesn’t repeat itself,” said Dr Sergi Tudela.

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