WWF is urging EU bluefin tuna fishing nations to hold back half their quotas - in a renewed urgent effort to avoid stock collapse ahead of the 2007 Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishing season.
The quota for this season’s fishery is more than double that recommended by scientists to avoid the high risk of collapse. WWF is calling on the EU to voluntarily heed scientific advice and hold back 50 per cent of its quotas to help conservation.
In a new briefing, “On the Brink: Mediterranean bluefin tuna - the consequences of collapseâ€, WWF says that ICCAT has allowed the quota for 2007 to increase in defiance of its own scientists. It also warns of the danger of removing a top predator from the ocean with unknown and potentially catastrophic impacts on species lower down the food chain.
“The EU can still choose not to be part of this failure, not to be one of the parties responsible for driving tuna to the brink,†said Justin Woolford, Head of WWF’s European Fisheries Campaign.