ICCAT SLASHES BLUEFIN QUOTA, BUT IS IT ENOUGH?

11/18/09  Recife, Brazil.  The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) voted on November 15, 2009 to cut catches of eastern bluefin tuna by a third, from a 2010 quota of 19,950 tonnes to 13,500 tonnes. The move came as a last-ditch attempt by the disgraced tuna commission to ward off a trade ban that will be considered next spring.

“The impending threat of a total ban on trade in bluefin undoubtedly motivated ICCAT countries to bring the catch down by quite a bit,” says Ken Hinman, president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation (NCMC) and an advisor to the U.S. Delegation. “But is the lower quota enough to save the species, and is it enough to convince the world that an endangered listing under CITES is no longer necessary?”

The United States went to ICCAT after announcing its “strong support” for listing Atlantic bluefin tuna under Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species when CITES meets in March 2010. But the U.S. qualified that support with hopes that the tuna commission would bite the bullet at its November 7-15 meeting in Brazil and listen to its own scientific committee’s advice on what catch cuts are needed to stop overfishing and start recovery.

That scientific advice, unfortunately, is open to some interpretation. Not about the sorry state of the bluefin population, which is indisputable. But ICCAT’s scientists gave managers a range of acceptable catch levels, from 8,000 to 15,000 tonnes, depending on different theories about future stock productivity and the rate of recovery.

The 2009 bluefin agreement of 13,500 tonnes is within the range of scientific advice, albeit at the high end. The U.S. pushed for a catch limit at the conservative end, or 8,000 tonnes. In addition to the new quota, ICCAT parties agreed to expand the closure to fishing in the Mediterranean Sea by two weeks, which means fishing will now be prohibited for two out of three months of the bluefin’s spawning season.

The NCMC advocated for an 8,000 tonne quota and a three-month closure in the Med, and urged the U.S. to proceed with its support of a CITES listing if ICCAT did any less.

The statement following the meeting by the lead U.S. Commissioner, Dr. Rebecca Lent, seems to leave that door open. Lent said ICCAT’s action is “insufficient to guarantee the long-term viability of either the fish or the fishery” and added, cryptically, “we remain committed to pursuing every legitimate avenue to recover Atlantic bluefin tuna and ensure their long-term survival.”

The Obama Administration will now decide what to do next. That is, whether, given the long history of illegal fishing and unreported catches in the eastern Atlantic - actual landings have often been twice the quota - trade restrictions are needed to keep total catches low enough to prevent further decline. The 175 member countries of CITES will meet March 13-25 in Doha, Qatar.

Read more on bluefin tuna and CITES.

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