Carboneras Tuna Fishing Fleet Hit By Mercury Warningff

Source: The Leader

The Spanish Food Safety Agency (AESAN) has recommended caution when consuming Tuna because it has recently detected high levels of mercury in the fish. In the wake of the recent problems experienced following the unwarranted German accusations about the regions cucumber and vegetable crop this has come as another devastating blow to Almeria’s business community.

In this case the warnings are affecting over 30 fishing vessels and their crews who trawl in the fishing grounds of the Spanish Mediterranean, out of the port of Carboneras, just south of Mojacar.

According to Joan Llobet, Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Barcelona, the recommendations are “reasonable.” However, he warned that the advice could cause “social alarm” and be “economically dangerous.”

The secretary of the Fishermen's Association of Carboneras, Simón Pérez, said "This alert by the health authorities has been the last straw for the fisheries sector in Carboneras. The result is that you will now see even more of an increase in price as stocks begin to diminish. Every time we seem to be making any sort of recovery the authorities come out with some ridiculous statement that makes it more difficult for us to sustain or improve our revival and move forward.”

So far, the agency has advised that pregnant women and children under three years of age should not consume more than 100 grams of swordfish and more than two servings of tuna per week.  They say that this metal is consumed by humans and can cause severe alterations in the neuronal development of the fetus and of young children.  They say that “these recommendations do not mean that the fish should not be eaten, but in certain risk groups it should be done in moderation.”

The Carboneras fleet generates direct and indirect employment to over 800 families in the area, living almost exclusively on small fishing quotas allocated to them by the European Union, through the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic (ICCAT).

For the last two weeks the fleet has been fishing for tuna, but given the low catches, they have returned to port with little more than a few swordfish.

The industry says that it is concerned by the falling prices caused by the drop in consumption and the health alert can now only make matters worse.

“Last season the price fell to six Euros per kilo on the fresh fish market. Below that figure, which we once again at as I speak, it is not profitable,” says Perez. The sustainability of the market for frozen tuna needs to pitch supermarket prices at about 20 Euros a kilo and this is quite clearly nowhere near the current mark.”

Although the Minister of Health, Leire Pajin, who is currently embroiled in controversy surrounding her choice of holiday resort, tried to downplay the warning by AESAN, the sector in general has reacted with irritation. The National Association of Shipowners has said that the recommendation refers only to bluefin tuna eaten fresh, not canned.

Javier Garat, Secretary General of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) believes that the statement has created unnecessary alarm by suggesting that the general public apply more stringent recommendations to the consumption of tuna and swordfish than those issued by the European Commission, which is completely unfair.

For this reason, CEPESCA urged AESAN to “review its recommendation and adapt it to the Report by its own Scientific Committee, to the one by EFSA (European Food Safety Agency) and to the one by the European Commission, which recommend risk groups should limit their consumption of swordfish, bluefin tuna and sharks to a ration of 100 grams a week. Besides, the development of a more thorough study which takes into account the antagonistic effect against mercury of the antioxidant substances present in fish and shellfish such as selenium is encouraged.”