Germany supports ban on international trade of bluefin tuna

With France, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany announcing their backing of the Monaco proposal to suspend international trade in bluefin tuna, four of the big EU players have put their cards on the table. Together the four countries form a strong alliance with power to sway opinion and almost one third of the votes in council. Sweden, who currently hosts the EU presidency, had itself proposed a total trade ban for the western bluefin tuna population in 1992 and should welcome the fact that CITES is finally asked to take action.

“Greenpeace welcomes the call by Germany, France, Monaco and the UK ban trade of bluefin tuna under CITES,” said Sebastian Losada, Greenpeace International oceans political advisor. “The situation for bluefin is so bad that we need a ban on international trade in the species to prevent the fishery collapsing in the same way as the Newfoundland Cod did. The main responsibility for this failure lies at ICCAT’s door – its gross mismanagement of bluefin has led this iconic species to be endangered – it is now time to give it trade protection under CITES.”

Last year a panel of experts released an independent performance review of ICCAT that recommended "the suspension of fishing on bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean", adding that the “management of the bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean is widely seen as an international disgrace."

Greenpeace believes that EU and Mediterranean fishing countries should bear the brunt of the criticism for having taken bluefin to the brink of collapse, adding that the countries have placed again and again the short term financial gain ahead of the long-term survival of the species and of the livelihood of fishermen that depend on it. Greenpeace calls on all countries that are party to CITES to support the listing the bluefin tuna.