WWF is warning that any increase this year in bluefin tuna quotas for the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) could jeopardise its recovery.
Dr Sergi Tudela, head of the Mediterranean fisheries programme, WWF, pointed out that ICCAT’s strengthening of bluefin tuna management in recent years could already be giving positive signs in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
"Therefore, we need to secure the recovery trend by strictly implementing the current management measures until a new stock assessment is carried out by the ICCAT Scientific Committee," he said.
So far the ICCAT Scientific Committee (SCRS) has advised against any substantial change in the current quota and specifically notes that maintaining catches at the levels agreed last year (13,400 tonnes) will likely allow the stock to fully recover by 2022.
But a recent WWF study showed that the current catch documentation scheme (BCD) failed to adequately trace the origin and initial biomass of fish at catch, which might result in substantial over-quota catches.
Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing quotas are due to be discussed at the 23rd regular annual meeting of ICCAT will take place from Nov 18-25 in Cape Town, South Africa.
