The Plunder of Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean

The Plunder of Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean
Greenpeace International
May 1999

Pirates Gather for the Annual Bluefin Tuna Frenzy

Each year in May, June and July, the Mediterranean Sea becomes the meeting point for a renegade fleet of over 50 large-scale, industrialized fishing vessels to engage in the hunt of one of the world's largest and most highly prized fish, the threatened eastern Atlantic stock of northern bluefin tuna (BFT) during its spawning season. Most of the vessels are flying flags of convenience (FOC's) from countries such as Panama, Belize, Honduras, and Sierra Leone. The rest donŐt bother to display a vessel name, fly a flag, or display any other forms of identification whatsoever. They are virtual pirates, and their booty is one of the most expensive fishes in the world.

The bluefin tuna are large (some may reach a weight of 600 kg.), voracious fish and excellent swimmers. They are gregarious animals that migrate long distances, both in order to breed as well as to find food. The only known spawning area for the eastern Atlantic population of bluefin tuna is in the Mediterranean Sea, north and east of the Balearic Islands of Spain.

This species is being drastically over-fished. In the last twenty years, the population of adult fish has decreased by 80%. If this fishery continues at current rates, in a few years time there will be very little left to catch. In addition to this, the high by-catch of other species including sharks, sea turtles, swordfish associated with the pirate longline fishery represent a serious concern.

Japan is the principal destination for bluefin tuna after its capture in the Mediterranean. In January 1998 alone, Japan imported 3,708 tons of fresh bluefin tuna by airplane, doubling the amount of tuna it had imported in January 1997. Bluefin command a high price -- around 4,500 Yen/kg (US$38/kg) on the Japanese market. More than 40,000 US dollars have been paid for just one tuna. The high market demand for bluefin tuna is spurring the commercial extinction of one of the world's oldest and most lucrative fisheries.

Panama flagged longliner fishing for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, July 1995

It is lure of such prices that spurs the pirate tuna fleet in the Mediterranean. And even though these vessels are targeting bluefin tuna, the countries whose flags the vessels operate under (if they fly one at all) are not members of the regional treaty organization -- the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) -- as required under international law. Consequently, this pirate fleet does not provide any information about catches, nor does it comply with any of the international regulations set down to manage and conserve the tuna stocks. ICCAT has taken steps to reduce such abuses in the west Atlantic: the U.S. and Japan (both ICCAT members) have banned the imports of west Atlantic bluefin tuna caught by vessels from Belize, Honduras, and Panama. But in the east Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, the international trade in pirate caught bluefin tuna continues unabated.

Cutback in Fishing Effort Urgently Needed Most of the pirate/FOC ships that fish the bluefin are industrial longliners, 55 to 65 meters long. Each vessel will set up to 100 kilometers of longlines that can carry more than 2,000 hooks. In addition to the pirate/FOC tuna fishing boats, hundreds of other fishing vessels from Mediterranean countries are actively using purse seines, longlines, driftnets, pole and line (live-bait), and tuna traps. In addition, there is a large "recreational" or sport fishery for bluefin. The modernization and industrialization of vessels that make up the regional fleet, combined with the activities of the pirate/FOC fishing fleet, have led to substantially increased fishing effort that has seen catches increase dramatically, posing new threats and uncertainties to the survival of the bluefin tuna.

Although ICCAT scientists have been pointing to the need to reduce fishing effort since 1974 (when catches leaped from 5,000 tons to 14,000 tons), the catch has increased steadily since then. In 1994, catches spiralled up to nearly 38,000 tons. That year ICCAT recommended closing the fishery during June/July to longliners of more than 24 meters in length and a 25% reduction overall of fishing effort. In 1995, the ICCAT recommendations came into effect but neither the pirate fleet nor any country obeyed them. In 1996, ICCAT asked for a reduction of 35%, no shipments by air to Japan during the month of June, and a ban on fishing by purse seiners during August. Despite these well-intentioned calls, the level of captures today of the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna is eight times higher (more than 40,000 tons a year) than the pre-1974 fishing level.

In 1997, the reported catch was some 44,000 tons, but ICCAT representatives think that the real catch figure is actually 30-50% higher due to pirate catches that are not declared at all, and under-reporting by other fleets. Generally, the quality of catch statistics on bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean is woefully deficient or incomplete at best. Compounding the problem of undeclared pirate catches is the fact that the catch declarations of many countries whose vessels fish bluefin in the area do not reflect the real catch since their vessels typically under-report catches for financial reasons.

Not only is over-fishing of the spawning eastern Atlantic bluefin stock a great concern, but juvenile bluefin (those that have not reached sexual maturity) are also being heavily exploited. The northern blue fin tuna does not reach sexual maturity until 5 years of age (more than 30 kg). The catch of bluefin weighing less than the legal minimum (6.4 kg.) has been so abusive that even the official figures put them at 50% (by number) of the overall catch.

Because of overfishing of the spawning stock and of the juveniles, scientists say that the current catches of bluefin in the Mediterranean are not sustainable. The number of spawning age fish has declined by 81% in the past twenty years.

For the first time, ICCAT has instituted a Total Allowable Catch (TAC), or quota system for Atlantic bluefin tuna starting in 1999. The quota for the eastern Atlantic for 1999 is 32,000 tons. Even this is too high given the fact that in 1998 scientists estimated that a catch level of 25,000 tons would be necessary in order to stop the decline of the bluefin tuna population in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The ICCAT scientists made it clear, however, that even setting the quota at 25,000 tons would not be low enough to ensure that the desperately needed, long term recovery of the depleted bluefin tuna stock would occur.

Greenpeace Demands

To save the Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, Greenpeace is calling on governments to:

1. Stop pirate and flag of convenience (FOC) fishing and establish a strict fisheries conservation and management regime. The regime must be based on the precautionary approach, taking into account the unsustainability of current catch levels on the viability and recovery rate of the bluefin population, as well as the health of other species whose populations are being reduced because of by-catch in the fishery.
2. Prohibit the imports of fish caught by FOC fishing vessels.
3. Close ports to all FOC fishing vessels, and vessels that service FOC fleets.
4. Prevent nationals from owning or serving on FOC fishing vessels.
5. Prevent reflagging of fishing vessels for the purpose of evading international regulations.