Bluefin Witness - Issue 1

Witnessing the decline of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean

The fishing season ends for another year, and as what remains of the threatened bluefin tuna stock continues its amazing migrations, the question now is – will it survive?

In the absence of any effective monitoring by ICCAT (the body tasked with managing the fishery) or its contracting parties, this Witness Series draws on testimonies and other sources of information to track the fate of the bluefin of the Med.

Background to the madness

When ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) chose to ignore the advice of its own scientists (who warned that the quotas set for the bluefin tuna catch should be halved in order to avert the risk of stock collapse and to initiate recovery), it unleashed the fleets of its 13 Contracting Parties with a bluefin quota, to begin fishing in a race against time.

Few believe that the Med bluefin stock will survive for much longer. Many fear that there is no future in the fishery. In 2007 the fleets aimed to take as much as they could, for as long as they could and, in some cases, by any means necessary.

During the 2007 fishing season, spotter planes were regularly seen operating to assist the fleets in locating the biggest hauls – yet the use of these planes is banned under ICCAT Recommendation 06-05. Even as the season ended, some fleets were declaring their intention to continue fishing illegally after the July 1st closure – and vessels have already been reported to the authorities for doing so.

Boom or bust

In a boom or bust mentality which speaks to concerns about the future of the fishery, some sections of the tuna fleets have used and continue to use every technique available to them to reap the rewards this year, as insurance against the next.

Scientists have clearly stated that the stock cannot survive this intense fishing – yet it is allowed to continue.

There are many factors which come into play when a fish stock collapses. It does not happen overnight but unfolds as the consequences of the complex functioning of the population unravel under extreme pressure and it is seldom identifiable in real time.

It is classically, though paradoxically the case, for example, that catches of the species peak in the period just before the stock collapses. Often the geographical range of the species strongly contracts and fishing activity intensifies in the very last remaining areas, which results in keeping catches high still for a while. This gives fishermen a false sense of fish abundance, only to find that the fishery will likely then decline abruptly and suddenly.

Yet despite this, ICCAT has already set the catch quota for 2010 and has no formal plans to review that quota nor the other management measures at their meeting in November of this year.

A well regulated and managed fishery is based on principles of sustainability backed up by effective monitoring and enforcement. Sustainability was ignored in this year’s quotas – so did ICCAT or its Contracting Parties fair any better on monitoring?

• The 2007 total quota was set at 29,500 tonnes. How many tonnes of tuna were caught during the season? Currently unknown.
• A key indicator of a stock in trouble is a decline in the mean size of the fish caught. ICCAT scientists have already identified a tripling of the mortality of the larger fish in previous years and the traditional trapping communities say that the larger fish have all but disappeared. Was any such decline formally observed in 2007? Unknown.
• Another important factor which could indicate a stock in crisis is a reduction in the geographical spread of the stock. The traditional fishing grounds in the Western Mediterranean are virtually exhausted. Was any further reduction in distribution range reported this year? Unknown.
• In order to assess the true impact on the stock it is necessary to monitor and quantify the amount of the illegal catch – the catch above quota. What was the total actual size of the landings by different national fleets? Unknown.

In the absence of any effective monitoring by the states and bodies responsible for fishing bluefin in the Med, the only option available to those concerned with the fate of the stock is to turn to informal intelligence gathering and anecdotal evidence.

Demand outstrips supply

As a stock becomes overfished resulting in increased scarcity, the trade price of the species will typically increase as demand outstrips supply.

By the second week of June, still within the fishing season, the Japanese media were already reporting a rise in the per-kilo price of tuna transferred to the Mediterranean farms.

On June 13th the Japanese newspaper Minato reported that the transfer price to farmers had risen and was predicted to continue rising to an estimated 6 to 6.5 Euros per kilo. The prices fetched by trappers also rose by an estimated 25% on the previous year and the sell-on price by farmers were expected to be 4200 to 4300 Japanese Yen per kilo – 1000 to 1500 yen higher than last year.

ICCAT will meet in November 2007 without any hard evidence about the impact of this year’s high quotas or any real-time monitoring of the evolution of the stock.

The Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery has been operating for 3,000 years. It has sustained some 45 generations of local fishermen – both in the Mediterranean and on the Eastern and Western coasts of the North Atlantic along the tuna migration path.

The watch continues to see whether or not that is a story now consigned to history.