|
THE European Commission has decided to close down the bluefin tuna fishing season early because stocks are in serious danger of being depleted. The ban, which takes in fishing grounds in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, comes into effect immediately and, at the moment, is open ended. However, it would have ended on June 15th in any case.
While it does not affect any British fishing fleets, it will have an impact on fishing countries like Spain, France and Italy and some vessel owners are bound to react angrily because they fear a much longer moratorium on bluefin fishing in the future.However, the news will delight environmentalists who have been calling for such a ban for the past several months even though are bound to say that ending the season a few days early will not have much impact on stocks. Greenpeace said the blue fin fishery has almost been wiped out and should not have been allowed this year in any event.
There was an incident last week when Greenpeace tried to free a tuna from a French fishing boat in the Mediterranean. If the European Commission allows a resumption of bluefin tune at any time in the near future further clashes are almost certain.
The Commission said: ""The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect the fragile stock of bluefin tuna and to ensure its recovery, as envisaged by the recovery plan of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (Iccat.). The Commission has declared a zero tolerance approach towards overfishing and will take all necessary measures to ensure full compliance across the board.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
