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EU Should Increase Regulation Of Tuna Raw Material Importsff

25 April 2005 European Union

For a long time now, the European tuna fleet –the world’s largest fleet in regards to captures with 350,000 tons per year and 67 vessels-  has been requesting the European Commission to sign new fishing alliances with at least 15 coastal countries. This way Europe will continue to maintain its position of second world leader in tuna canned production, after Thailand with its 500,000 tons per year.

 

The new challenge will be the renewal of the 13 fishing agreements that the European Union already has with third countries. Also two more new agreements have recently been added, one of them was signed for the very first time with a Pacific country as Kiribati Republic and the second one with Mozambique.

 

A resolution already approved by the European Parliament, after the European fishing sector' request, states that more political and legal improvements and advances are needed to keep control over the imports of raw tuna and loins, in order to avoid creating a dependence on the Asian and Latin American imports. However the European fishing sector also positively noted that the European Union has worked hard to develop and support the most outstanding current food industries.

 

The European Union still depends on the imports from third countries, a situation that may be changed gradually since the European industry produces 400,000 tons of canned tuna and the local market demands up to 550,000 tons per year. The European fleets have been moving through the vast oceans, searching within new fishing grounds, for a species that is characterized by its high tendency to migrate. However this species – skipjack tuna- is also at the verge of being overexploited by large industrial fishing vessels.