Source: Europa Press
The Spanish bluefin tuna fleet has asked to introduce a moratorium of “at least two years†for industrial fishing. The petition was made to Rosa Aguilar, head of the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM), Clara Aquilera, who is the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Xunta de Galicia, and to Mary Damanaki, the European Union Fisheries Commissioner.
The recommendations from the Scientific Committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) are to maintain the total allowable catch (TAC) for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) at 13,500 tons. This will enable to achieve a stock recovery "with a probability of a 60 percent increase by 2022â€.
According to the written document from the artisanal fishermen, the problem could reside that with the current TAC hundreds of artisanal fishing fleets or traditional craft have lost their jobs, such as the live bait fleet of Biscay.
Furthermore, they believe that a new reduction in the TAC would lead to “the drastic disappearance in the artisanal fleets, not only with regards to the loss of many jobs, but populations with a high degree of dependence on fishing and particularly in this fishery also maintain a high level of unemployment in general.†They also confirm that maintaining the current TAC next year “would be the gradual dismantling of all the fleet, with the exception of the purse seining fleet, which is the currently only profitable oneâ€.
The document also states that “it would be totally unfair if thousands of fishermen who –for hundreds of years- have been living from a resource, in a way that is sustainable, artisanal and respectful to the environment, have to disappear because of a minority of so-called fishermen-farmers, which in a few years, have depleted the fishery,†stated the artisanal fleet.