EU Does Not Rule Out Closing Bluefin Tuna Fisheries ff

Source:  Agrocope

The Commissioner of Fisheries for the European Union (EU), Maria Damanaki, confirmed last week that the EU ‘may’ propose to move the closure of the bluefin tuna fishing season if advised to by scientific experts.

“We expect to receive the reports either this week or next week”, Mrs. Damanaki said.

“If the report indicates that the quota is to be reduced, then we will do so.  I am ready to close the fisheries,” she said.


EU Commissioner of Fisheries Maria Damanaki

The EU Commissioner of Fisheries also recalled that the Convention on International Trade for Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora’s (CITES) rejection to the proposal this year to include bluefin tuna in the annex of protected species was very “disappointing”.

The EU will present its plan for the protection of the Bluefin tuna species during the next International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting, to be held in November in Paris, France.