APPEAL TO THE EUROPEAN UNION TO PLACE A FULL BAN ON THE FISHING OF BLUEFIN TUNA
- av: Michelle M, Claudia Peters,Ocean supporters
- mottagare: Señor Edificio Odriozola,Mr. Harm Koster,CFCA Community Fisheries Control Agency
The Mediterranean Sea must be closed to commercial fishing, and especially to the fishing of the bluefin tuna.
The bluefin tuna will be commercially extinct within three years unless governments act now, act decisively and act aggressively.There are more than 600 poaching vessels operating in the Mediterranean and they are literally wiping the living resources into extinction.We must intervene and we must take whatever risks are required to drive these criminals from the sea.
The Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan is buying all the bluefin tuna they can get and freezing it, literally investing in the extinction of this magnificent warm-blooded, unique fish. Once gone, the bluefin will be extremely rare and Mitsubishi will be able to name their price.
Because of the avarice of companies like Nobu and Mitsubishi, worldwide populations of bluefin have been reduced by 90%, perhaps more.
This continued slaughter is intolerable.The European Union quotas are being ignored. The regulations are being ignored. Bluefin is being smuggled out of Europe like an expensive drug. From poacher to buyers to consumers, the trafficking in bluefin is a billion dollar criminal enterprise.Tuna fishing is managed by the Madrid-based International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. This is a corrupt body that is only interested in protecting the investments of the fishing industries in its 45 member countries. They ignore their own science and have been setting quotas twice as high as the industry scientists are recommending.
Turkey is demanding higher quotas, and the poachers from various nations ignore the quotas altogether.
SIGNATURES WILL BE DELIVERED TO cfca@ec.europa.eu , harm.koster@cfca.europa.eu AND MORE TARGETS.
Quotes used in this petition from Captain Paul Watson Sscs
Gentlemen,
On April 6, 2009, the European Council adopted COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 302/2009 concerning a multi-annual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, amending Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1559/2007.
Paragraph 3 of the introduction to this regulation states that:
%u201CIn order to rebuild the stock, the new ICCAT recovery plan provides for a graduated reduction in the total allowable catch level from 2007 to 2011, restrictions on fishing within certain areas and time periods, a new minimum size for bluefin tuna, measures concerning sport and recreational fishing activities, farming and fishing capacity measures as well as reinforced control measures and the implementation of the ICCAT scheme of joint international inspection to ensure the effectiveness of the recovery plan.%u201D
A press release posted on the ec/eropa-eu/fisheries Internet page further states that
%u201CThe European Commission has announced a strict, zero-tolerance approach to implementation of the ICCAT recovery plan. European operators will not be allowed to work with vessels or farms from other ICCAT Contracting Parties which are not fully implementing the plan. In particular, joint fishing operations involving Europeans vessels and placing of bluefin tuna in European cages will not be allowed with respect to operations involving those Contracting Parties.%u201D
Tuna fishing is managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. This Commission initiated the 15-year plan for bluefin tuna recovery, on which the EU regulations are based, at its annual meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in November 2006.
Unfortunately, the European Union quotas are still being ignored, and efforts made by the ICCAT have not proven very efficient. Some fisheries are setting quotas higher than permitted in the regulations: reports indicate that quotas are double what the ICCAT has set, and that due to lax or insufficient capacity for monitoring, in reality some 50,000 to 60,000 tons of bluefin are taken per year.
Furthermore, due to the extremely high prices brought by bluefin tuna in certain restaurants or countries, poachers from various nations ignore the regulations altogether. Bluefin is being smuggled out of Europe like an expensive drug. From poacher to buyers to consumers, the trafficking in bluefin is a billion dollar criminal enterprise.
According to a ranking of fish species status published on the Greenpeace Website (http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/oceans/seafood/red-fish), %u201CBluefin are slow to mature and many young fish are caught before they've had a change to reproduce, making them extremely vulnerable to fishing pressure. Bluefin tuna are severely depleted and still being overfished. The Atlantic population has declined by nearly 90% since the 1970s. The North Atlantic population is approaching commercial extinction. »
As a citizen concerned with the sustainability of our fishing resources, I therefore ask that the European Union bring bluefin tuna fishing to a complete halt for the time needed to restore the species former viable levels, and to take every action to ensure that fisheries respect this ban and that poachers are arrested and suitably sanctioned for their actions.
The European Union and its Member States are leaders in promoting sustainable development and wildlife conservation, and we look to you to take a firm stand on the conservation of the bluefin tuna and other commercial fish.
Thank you for your kind attention,
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