BRUSSELS, Belgium - A new quota set by an international organization for commercial fishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean will threaten the fish's survival, environmental groups said Tuesday.
European Union countries, the United States, Japan and others of the 46-member International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT, voted in Morocco on Monday to grant a quota of 19,950 tonnes for 2009.
That is 6,350 tonnes more than what scientists from the same organization had recommended as a maximum.
Environmental groups such as WWF, Greenpeace and Oceana said Tuesday the new quota will push the once-bountiful stocks beyond commercial recovery.
Once a prime catch in the Mediterranean, the fleet, fatty fish has fallen victim to gastronomic taste. In other words, it has become far easier to spot in Tokyo sushi restaurants than in the blue waters between Europe and Africa.
Environmental groups said the latest quota means the death knell for the bluefin in the Mediterranean.
"With this decision, we can only wait for the disappearance of bluefin tuna," said Xavier Pastor, executive director for Oceana. "Instead of preserving the bluefin tuna stock from collapse, they gave in to the fishing industry's short-term economic interests."
The WWF and Greenpeace also condemned the decision.
"The game is over. ICCAT has missed its last chance to save the bluefin tuna from stock collapse," said Sebastian Losada of Greenpeace. "Bluefin tuna has become an endangered species because of ICCAT mismanagement."
Industrial fishing and tuna farming have drastically cut catches in the Mediterranean, but if the tuna were given time to replenish, it could sustain an annual catch of 40,800 tonnes, Oceana says.
Tuna has now declined so much that the quota reduction from 25,850 tonnes this year to 19,950 tonnes in 2009 is still seen as a victory for the fishing industry.
Enforcement of quotas has been very inefficient, and illegal catches are rampant in the Mediterranean. So observers say fishing often far exceeds quotas.
To counter that, ICCAT also imposed strict limits on the fishing season and called for better surveillance of fishing for bluefin tuna.
