Bluefin Tuna Update

Letter by Rich Ruais, East Coast Tuna Association

Setting the quota at 29,500 (double the scientific advice) was bad enough and now these objections guarantee the eastern slaughter will continue and lead to one or more environmental groups seeking a CITES listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna in 2008. A CITES listing would result in a prohibition on all international trade of bluefin and bluefin products. Photo: NOAA

You might recall that when I reported on the results of the ICCAT meeting in Croatia I noted that the agreement for bluefin in the east Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea failed to include any sharing arrangement among eastern fishing nations for the 29,500 mt quota beginning in 2007. It was agreed that a special meeting would be held in early 2007 to try and negotiate the controversial sharing arrangement. The special meeting was held in Tokyo the last week in January and was not entirely successful.

Turkey and Libya have objected to the new agreement, both demanding a 1,400mt increase in their quota over the 2006 level—not the new reduced level. With these objections in place both countries will establish “autonomous” quotas at whatever level they decide is necessary. Setting the quota at 29,500mt (double the scientific advice) was bad enough, and now these objections guarantee the eastern slaughter will continue and lead to one or more environmental groups seeking a CITES listing for Atlantic bluefin tuna in 2008. A CITES listing would result in a prohibition on all international trade of bluefin and bluefin products. In 1992, Sweden proposed a CITES listing for bluefin that was ultimately defeated in Kyoto, Japan after intensive international lobbying by the Japanese government and tuna industry.

If you review the eastern agreement you will see, first hand, the incredible hypocrisy of the European Community. They acknowledge the scientific warning of a “collapse of the stocks in the near future” and then proceed to set up a fraudulent recovery plan that sets the quota twice the level recommended by the scientists, ignore the advice to protect spawning fish in the Mediterranean, and finally, increase the minimum size but exempt the major small fish fisheries historically found in the Bay of Biscay. It is difficult to accept, that in 2007 any group of countries can get away with this level of biological irresponsibility, especially on a shared resource.

2007 Domestic Bluefin Quota Specifications
The new 2006 ICCAT agreement for the west Atlantic reduced the quota from 2,700 mt to 2,140 mt, with the U.S. share being 1,190.12 mt (about a 20% reduction). This new quota should result in base quotas as follows for our traditional permit categories:

General 560.5
Harpoon 46.4
Purse Seine 221.3
Incidental 96.3
Angling 234.4

In addition to the base quotas, NMFS has two new quota rollover measures to take into account. The maximum rollover ICCAT now allows is 50% of the base quota, which, for the U.S., provides a maximum rollover of 595 mt. We should receive the maximum rollover in 2007 given the considerable underages in 2005 and 2006 even with the 275 tons the U.S. transferred to Canada and Mexico at the ICCAT meeting in Croatia. The second rollover measure is the new domestic rollover cap of no more than 100% of any category’s base quota can be added to subsequent years allocations. Any quota, in excess of the 100% cap, reverts to the Reserve category for potential in-season reallocation.

NMFS is targeting early March for release of preliminary quota specifications.
Rich