WWF has issued yet another warning that tuna stocks are rapidly disappearing, this time ahead of a tuna management organisations’ meeting.
The meeting of tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) will take place in Kobe, Japan, from 22-26 January.
According to WWF, Atlantic bluefin is overfished and the spawning stock of Southern bluefin in the Indian Ocean is down about 90%.
The organisation also says that the capacity of the world’s tuna fleets are greater than required to catch the legal quota. In 2002 in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the capacity of purse seine fleets targeting bigeye and yellowfin tuna was 70% higher than needed to catch the quantity advised by scientists.
RFMOs have been developed by counties to regulate fishing on the high seas, but disputes about allocation of fishing quotas tend to have a paralysing impact on them. According to WWF, in some cases quotas have been ignored or increased to accommodate new entrants into the fishery.
Bycatch is something that also needs to be addressed. Sharks, marine turtles, seabirds, small whales and dolphins are caught incidentally in longline fisheries, in massive amounts.
Dr Simon Cripps, Director of WWF’s Global Marine Programme says, “The talks in Japan provide an opportunity for all interested nations to adopt approaches that ensure good practices to protect tuna, other marine life and the well-being of coastal communities.”
