EU APPROVES MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR BLUEFIN TUNA

EU approves management plan for bluefin tuna. MEPs have given their final approval on the bluefin tuna management plan in the eastern Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

Under the new rules, EU countries with bluefin tuna quotas should establish an annual fishing plan, defining the number of vessels and traps, with the purse seiners’ capacity increased by up to 20% in comparison with 2018 limits. By-catches should not be higher than 20 % of the total catches on board at the end of each fishing trip.

The annual fishing plan should also pay special attention to artisanal and small-scale vessels authorised to catch this species. Member States should make further efforts to ensure a fair and transparent distribution of fishing opportunities between small-scale, artisanal and larger fleets.

Ten more days of fishing season

The fishing season for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea by large-scale pelagic longlines vessels goes from 1 January to 31 May, while purse seine fishing is allowed from 26 May until 1 July.

However, Cyprus and Greece may request that purse seiners with their flag can fish for bluefin tuna in the eastern Mediterranean from 15 May until 1 July. Croatia may request that its purse seiners are allowed to fish for farming purposes in the Adriatic Sea until 15 July.

All EU countries may extend their fishing season by up to 10 days if they provide evidence to the Commission that, due to weather conditions, their purse seiners were unable to use their fishing days during a year.

Better rules on caging

EU countries responsible for farms must also have farming annual plans and put in place a traceability system, including to have caging operations monitored by video cameras in the water. Random controls based on risk analysis should take place in farm cages, with the member state defining the minimum percentage of fish to be controlled.

Quote

The rapporteur Clara Aguilera (S&D, Spain) said:

“This Regulation means the end of 13 years of restrictions and strong limitations included in the Recovery Plan that will be derogated. Bluefin tuna stocks are in good health thanks to the efforts of the fisheries sector of Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Malta, Greece and Cyrus. Congratulations to these fishers because it has been an enormous effort from their side. The European Parliament requested a special quota for artisanal fisheries and this Regulation is a step forward on that direction. We will continue working to support artisanal fisheries for social justice, and because there are many families whose income depends on the fisheries sector in Union coastal areas”.

Next steps

The new measures will enter into force and start to apply 20 days after the agreement is published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Background

The eastern bluefin tuna stock is, similarly to all tunas in the Atlantic, managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an intergovernmental fishery organisation of which the EU has been a contracting party since 1997.

In 2006, the ICCAT adopted restrictive measures for bluefin tuna catches for 2007-2022 to avoid a possible collapse of fishing stocks. In 2018, after verifying the recovery of stocks, the ICCAT moved from the recovery plan to a management plan, which entered into force in June 2019.

The Parliament and the Presidency of the Council of the EU reached a preliminary deal on how to transpose the ICCAT recommendation into EU law on 10 November 2020. Parliament adopted the first reading position in April 2021. However, this agreement was rejected by EU governments due to concerns over their exclusive powers to allocate fishing opportunities. The negotiations resumed in March 2023 and were concluded in April.

The Council adopted its position in June and the Committee on Fisheries validated the second reading by 21 votes to 2 and 0 abstentions.

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