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The port authorities of Maddalena in Sardegna, Italy, have found some one thousand administrative violations relating to bluefin tuna.
Obligatory fishing and trading documents have been falsified for bluefin tuna – a species that is at risk of extinction. Seventy people are under investigation.
An enquiry conducted by Maddalena port authorities has brought to light the vast international bluefin tuna trafficking ring, that extends right across the peninsula. About a thousand administrative violations have been confirmed, worth some €4 million.
The fraud, which could involve organised crime groups, was carried out via the avoidance or falsification of the Bluefin Catch Documents (BCD) that are obligatory according to EU law concerning the fishing and trading of bluefin tuna – an endangered species. The EU sets quota limits for each Member State to catch bluefin tuna, which is highly sought-after in Japan where the market price can reach €500 per kilo.
Seprona, the Nature Protection Service of Alicante police in Spain, seized a batch of bluefin tuna at the wholesale auction last month, coming from an illegal fishing operation in Italy.
The operation, carried out at the end of June, is a part of Seprona’s fisheries prevention and control activities, that has a particular focus on the bluefin tuna recovery plan.
The seized tuna came from Italy where it had been fished illegally, and it was lacking the obligatory documents that should prove the tuna’s provenance as well as compliance with health regulations. Spanish legislation, as part of European regulations, requires the provision of such documentation with reference to the transport and trade of fish, even that which has been caught outside Spanish waters.
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