Spanish Bluefin Scarce And Prices Low ff

The Bluefin tuna catch scarce in the Spanish Strait and prices are low.

The Spanish Bluefin campaign is not developing as anticipated from its start, in the month of August. “The campaign began well, however the Strait waters are small for so many vessels” said Rafael Moreno Caparrós, tuna boatowner of Algeciras. He assured that the problem is not only problem fish shortage, but also fish are not biting and the scarce catch is quoted at a much lower price than usual.
 
Last week, small tuna of about 8 kgs was sold at the fresh market for only Eur 2.40 per kilo, while consumers pay Eur 20 per kilo at supermarkets, informed the tuna boatowner. He also said that larger size tuna is quoted at Eur 9 per kilo, while it was obtaining Eur 18 per kilo in earlier years.

Mr. Moreno does not know the reason why prices are low, but he mentions that there is growing number of tuna being fattened in large cages at farms located in the Mediterranean. “The cages contained high number of tuna caught by purse seiners and this is what is hurting us and damaging prices, and we are not aware if this is legal”, said Mr. Moreno.

The boatowner emphasizes that Northern Bluefin tuna is almost extinct, “but whose fault is this; of the artisanal fishermen, like us, or of the large industrial tuna boats?”

The campaign started mid August, with a catch of 500 to 700 kilos per vessel per day and although the fishing is rather slow between mid November and mid December, there was quite “a turn” early November. Now, as an exception, there is a daily 300 kilo per vessel catch, because some boats do not catch at all: “Saturday I caught 160 kilos, which is not enough to even cover expenses”.  To make the trip worthwhile, it is necessary to at least sell between Eur 1.800 and Eur 2.400 per day. 

According to the boatowner, the fishery should be regulated. At the beginning of the campaign  “we started off with just a few boats, but as the fishing goes on, more vessels are arriving and also so are those from the North”.  

Tuna fishing is one of the alternatives for the tuna fishing fleet of the area, which has been so punished because of the non-agreement with Morocco.  “Algeciras has only 8 vessels left, however, if fishing should continue in January, there would be forty vessels fishing between Algeciras and Tarifa and that means too many boats for the Strait and in addition, the tuna zone is very reduced.”