Race For The Last Bluefin Intensifies - 10 Brand-New Purse Seiners For Croatia ff

Source: Full text WWF Press Release

WWF’s recent report ‘Race for the last bluefin’, released in March 2008, included the first comprehensive account of the industrial purse seine fleet targeting bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. This is only a subset of the total fleet catching Mediterranean bluefin, which includes purse seiners but also vessels using other fishing gear such as longlines. A total of 617 purse seine vessels were estimated to be plundering the Mediterranean bluefin tuna stock, with an estimated yearly catch potential of 54,783 metric tons. This figure highly already exceeds the legal TAC, set by ICCAT at around 29,000 tons for 2008 (total, including all gear catches) - not to mention the maximum catch considered sustainable by ICCAT scientists, estimated at a mere 15,000 tons per year.

A disturbing finding by WWF points to ongoing trends in the increase in fleet capacity, in spite of the continued warnings form scientists about the risk of collapse of this fishery unless fishing pressure is greatly reduced. Indeed, in March WWF reported that a total of 229 new high-tech tuna seiners were commissioned from 1997, including 25 vessels then under construction.

Further research by ATRT S.L for WWF has just confirmed this trend, and evidenced the role of countries such as Croatia in illegal fishing activities in this fishery due to the dramatic unbalance between ever-increasing fishing capacity and dwindling fishing possibilities.

Indeed, in a recent field assessment of the Croatian tuna industry, ATRT S.L for WWF has been able to gather documental evidence on the ongoing building of nine new industrial bluefin tuna seiners - including five in a shipyard in Kali, a further two vessels in Zadar, one on the island of Brac and one at Solin-Split. A new tuna seiner unreported to ICCAT (named Hobos) was also uncovered at Biograd, presumably operating for the company Jadran Tuna. 

These 10 new units add to the other 8 industrial tuna seiners built in Croatia since 2006, totaling 18 new units in barely 2 years, after ICCAT scientists in September 2006 issued an urgent warning about the unsustainable status of the bluefin tuna stock in the Mediterranean.

This massive increase in fishing capacity violates the joint statement adopted by industry and decision-makers in Tokyo earlier this year within the margins of ICCAT, whereby participants (including Croatia) committed not to increase fishing capacity in this fishery.

Total fishing capacity by the bloated Croatian fleet (85 purse seine vessels) was conservatively estimated by WWF in March 2008 to be of some 5,157 tons of bluefin tuna. New additions to the fleet - such as the 10 units just uncovered in the field - would further exacerbate fishing overcapacity by the Croatian fleet, by widening even more the gap between real catch capacity and the quota allocated by ICCAT to Croatia, amounting to only 833 tons for 2008.

New generation bluefin seiners - such as the new vessels uncovered - have a tremendous catch capacity. This was amply illustrated by the more than 3,000 tons of bluefin tuna that the Spanish authorities recently acknowledged as having been caught in 2007 - by the just 6 purse seiners that make up its bluefin tuna fleet.

According to information collected in the field by ATRT, WWF estimates that some 6,800 tonnes of BFT are currently caged in tuna farms in Croatia alone. This figure is provisional since it would not include all of the fish that was caught in central Mediterranean waters.

The magnitude of the figure suggests that Croatian farms might harbor substantial unreported catches.

New vessel units launched in 2006-2008 include:

Vessels already known to ATRT,SL and WWF at June 2008:

- NEPTUN I & NEPTUN II (base port: Split) (LOA: 40.15 m). Operational in 2008. Built at Tehnomont Pula shipyard for Conex-Trade. Both vessels left the harbour of Valletta (Malta) on 31 May 2008, with destination to fishing grounds in central Mediterranean. Working for Dvrenik Tuna (participated by Grupo Ricardo Fuentes and Mitsubishi).

- SARDINA I (base port: Postira) (LOA: 41.6m). Operational in 2008.

- BLANKA (base port: Zadar) (LOA: 31m). Operational in 2006.

- FORTICA (base port: Biograd) (LOA: 33.2m). Operational 2006.

- KATUN (base port: Pula). (LOA: 30m). Operational 2007.

- SIN KALI I launched on April 26th 2008 at Tehnomont Pula shipyard, Pula/Croatia.

- PARIS. Operational from the port of Bakar, Rijeka.

New fleet uncovered during July 2008 field assessment:

- HOBOS (base port: Biograd). Operational in 2008. Presumably owned by Jadran Tuna.

- COUNTRY CAT. Currently under construction at Kali shipyard, island of Ugljan.

- BAYOU CAT. Currently under construction at Kali shipyard, island of Ugljan.

- MARLIN. Currently under construction at Kali shipyard, island of Ugljan.

- SKODA. Currently under construction at Kali shipyard, island of Ugljan.

- One bluefin tuna purse seine vessel (as yet unnamed) at Kali shipyard, island of Ugljan.

- TACOMA. Currently under construction at shipyard north of Zadar.

- One bluefin tuna purse seine vessel (as yet unnamed) at shipyard north of Zadar.

- CRAZY CAT. Island of Brac.

- SARDINA II. Currently under construction at Solin-Split shipyard.