Concern is being expressed by the American Bluefin Tuna Association (ABTA) regarding a proposal by NMFS that purports to allow the continuation of the present level of bycatch and discards of Atlantic bluefin tuna.
ABTA says that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)'s Swordfish Revitalization Program, an initiative largely aimed at increasing catch of swordfish by US longline vessels, is a policy that directly conflicts with numerous US and United Nations edicts mandating the reduction of bycatch.
The organisation says that US swordfish and yellowfin tuna longline fisheries are plagued with high levels of Atlantic bluefin bycatch and dead discards. Great concern has been expressed that NMFS will choose to allow the continuation of these present “unacceptable” levels of bycatch, favouring its Swordfish Revitalization Program, rather than mounting an initiative to dramatically reduce bluefin bycatch.
Atlantic bluefin is caught as bycatch in the US Atlantic swordfish longline fishery as well as in the US Gulf of Mexico yellowfin tuna longline fishery.
A three-day meeting was concluded in Silver Springs MD recently of the Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel, a committee that advises NMFS on issues related to Atlantic bluefin tuna. Just prior to the meeting, NMFS presented this proposal as a white paper, referred to as Draft Amendment 7, specifically addressing the issue of Atlantic bluefin tuna bycatch and dead discards by presenting wide-ranging alternatives to existing regulations. ABTA says the thrust of the most significant proposals contained within this document fail to address, head-on, the mandate for the reduction of bycatch.
ABTA says that this proposal, coming at a time when the sustainability of US fish stocks has become a highest national priority, runs counter to the basic tenets of conservation.
