Improved Monitoring Of Bluefin Tuna Catches

An electronic catch documentation scheme for Mediterranean bluefin tuna will be brought into force, as agreed by those attending the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting.

The scheme will mean that fleets, tugboats, tuna fattening farms and national authorities will have to log all catches digitally instead of through the current paper-based system. It is hoped that this will allow full traceability of the fish from where it is caught at sea to market.

A pilot scheme will run in 2012 to test out the electronic Bluefin Catch Document (BCD) system, which will cost around €400,000.

Environmental groups say that the current paper system allows overfishing to carry on. Pew Environment Group reported in 2010 that the amount of Mediterranean bluefin tuna traded surpassed the ICCAT quota by 141 per cent.

Last year, some participants and industry organisations were dissatisfied with ICCAT outcomes, where bluefin quota fell by a minimal amount, despite scientific evidence that more protection for the species was needed.

Whilst the general outcomes of this year's meeting are positive, there is still a lot of work to be done. Serious allegations of illegal bluefin tuna fishing by foreign fleets in Libyan waters during the country’s unrest in the 2011 fishing season attracted heated discussion at the Istanbul meeting.

ICCAT members have committed to carry out research in 2012 on this issue. Libya was also accused of overfishing bluefin tuna at the 2010 ICCAT meeting.