EU calls end to unruly bluefin fishing season
Source: Agencies |
June 10, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE European Union has banned industrial fishing of the endangered bluefin tuna from midnight yesterday for the rest of this season, after fishermen exhausted quotas.
Western scientists say stocks of the Atlantic bluefin - which can fetch US$100,000 each at market - have fallen by around 80 percent over the past 40 years and continued overfishing threatens their survival.
High-tech fishing vessels using echo-sounders have become so efficient at locating and netting the giant creatures in "purse seine" nets that a season's quota can be met in just 10 days.
Most of the tuna are sent to Japan, where they are prized by sushi lovers.
"The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna and to ensure its recovery," a spokesman for EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said.
Small-scale fishing with hooks and spears will be allowed to continue.
The warm-blooded bluefin is known for its size and speed, reaching weights of over 600kg - heavier than an average horse - and accelerating faster than a sports car to reach top speeds of about 70 kilometers per hour.
European Union countries agreed in March to propose listing bluefin as an endangered species at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a move that would effectively end the hunt.
But while Japan was effective in building a coalition to oppose a CITES ban on trading bluefin, the EU's common position fell into disarray during negotiations.
"Bluefin tuna is on the brink of extinction, and fishing should never have taken place this year," said Greenpeace campaigner Oliver Knowles.
Western scientists say stocks of the Atlantic bluefin - which can fetch US$100,000 each at market - have fallen by around 80 percent over the past 40 years and continued overfishing threatens their survival.
High-tech fishing vessels using echo-sounders have become so efficient at locating and netting the giant creatures in "purse seine" nets that a season's quota can be met in just 10 days.
Most of the tuna are sent to Japan, where they are prized by sushi lovers.
"The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna and to ensure its recovery," a spokesman for EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said.
Small-scale fishing with hooks and spears will be allowed to continue.
The warm-blooded bluefin is known for its size and speed, reaching weights of over 600kg - heavier than an average horse - and accelerating faster than a sports car to reach top speeds of about 70 kilometers per hour.
European Union countries agreed in March to propose listing bluefin as an endangered species at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a move that would effectively end the hunt.
But while Japan was effective in building a coalition to oppose a CITES ban on trading bluefin, the EU's common position fell into disarray during negotiations.
"Bluefin tuna is on the brink of extinction, and fishing should never have taken place this year," said Greenpeace campaigner Oliver Knowles.
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