Brussels may close bluefin tuna fishing season
The Commissioner of Fisheries for the EU, Maria Damanaki, says they may move the closure of the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) fishing season if advised by scientific experts.
"If the report [by the specialists] says that we must reduce the quota, we will. I am ready to close the fisheries," said Damanaki. She expects to receive the reports either "this week or next".
With regret, the Fisheries Commissioner recalled that the Convention on International Trade for Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected the proposal this year to include bluefin tuna in the annex of protected species.
"The exercise of CITES and the result was disappointing too," she said.
In addition, she anticipated how she hopes to convince more countries to protect the species within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), during a meeting to be held in November in Paris, France.
"What I can tell you is that we have an ambitious proposal from the European Commission, but we have to convince others," said Damanaki.
She also said that she will travel to Turkey this month to try to convince the authorities to cooperate with the EU.
In early September, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Junta de AndalucÃa, Clara Aguilera, stressed that the autonomous government defends the current quota allocation for the bluefin tuna "as long as they support scientific reports that are being developed."
The objective of the Andalusian government is for artisanal tuna vessels to fish in a sustainable and respectable manner with regards to the species.
