Bluefin tuna: a victim of subsidies
Farming of wild-caught bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean is leading to massive overfishing of an already exploited stock. This has been encouraged by EU subsidies for the farms, with some 26 million Euros distributed to France, Greece, Italy, and Spain since 1997. Japanese and Australian investments have also been made in Spain, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, and Croatia.
© WWF-Canon / Michael SUTTON
Bluefin tuna, Tsujiki fish market, Tokyo, Japan.
Government subsidies to the tune of over US$15 billion each year have played a major role in allowing the world’s fishing fleet to become so large.
Officially, this money is intended to meet a variety of positive goals, including the maintenance of robust fishing communities.But according to WWF's 2001 review of global data on fishing subsidies (download as Word file), the money has artificially sustained more fishing vessels than the oceans can sustainably support.
These subsidies are paid by taxpayers all over the world. Japan is the largest subsidizer, giving US$2-3 billion annually to its fishing industry. Russia, which once had the largest fishing fleet in the world, pays US$600 million annually to help scrap old ships and replace them with modern trawlers. The United States spends nearly US$1 billion on fishing industry subsidies each year, while the EU forks out up to 1.4 billion Euros - or 14,000 Euros per boat.
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