» Minister Shea applauds ICCAT’s failure??

November 17th, 2009

Minister Shea applauds ICCAT’s failure??

Sarah King

Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Shea released a statement yesterday offering her congrats to ICCAT members for a job well-done on protecting Atlantic bluefin tuna. My question to Minister Shea is- did I miss something? Did ICCAT take a stand for bluefin and close the fishery or reduce the quota to a level that would actually secure recovery? Have the spawning grounds been protected? As I went through her statement I realized that I was not on glue, that such a success for bluefin had not happened, and that ICCAT has, in fact, failed again. My responses to her statement below.

Minister Shea- “ICCAT has finally shown a commitment to protect the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna (EBFT) stock from overfishing and illegal fishing. The Government of Canada pressed for strong measures at this year’s annual meeting and is optimistic at members’ recognition that decisive action in favour of sustainable management of Atlantic bluefin tuna is needed.

Greenpeace- ICCAT members have shown that they respond when shocked. In this case, the prospect of bluefin being listed under CITES shocked them into actually taking some protective measures. However, the reality is that without a quota of 8,000 tonnes or less, the Atlantic bluefin don’t even have a 50% shot at recovery in the next unlucky 13 years, according to ICCAT own scientists. Without a full closure of the fishery and ban on trade, illegal fishing will continue, overfishing will continue, and thus landings will far exceed the allowable catch.

Minister Shea- “ICCAT members have adopted a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the EBFT fishery of 13,500t, which falls within the science advice. Additionally, the fishing season for purse seine vessels, which account for the majority of catches in this fishery, has been cut in half from two months to one. ICCAT has also shown the willingness to take action against members who do not comply with agreed upon management measures. Members must now act on their commitments and ensure fishing fleets fully comply with the agreed TAC, quotas, and related management measures. Those ICCAT members failing to comply must face severe penalties.

Greenpeace- Close but no cigar Shea, you’re referencing the scientific advice from last year. The latest scientific analysis on Atlantic bluefin was carried out by ICCAT scientific committee during its extraordinary meeting held in Madrid from October 21-23. At the meeting, projections were done simulating various management strategies involving a total allowable catch (TAC) of 15,000t, 8,500t and 0t. The results showed that a TAC of 15,000t for the next 10 years would result in a 87% probability that the spawning stock biomass in 2019 remains below 20% of the virgin biomass level and a 26% probability that the stock will continue to decline during 2009 and 2019. These figures are also best case scenarios with perfect implementation of the TAC-meaning no illegal fishing and no overfishing. For a TAC of 8,500t the corresponding probability that the stock biomass remains below 20% is 77%.

Therefore, the LATEST scientific advise clearly shows that a TAC set at 8,500 -15,000 t is NOT an option supported by science to recover the stock with high probability and in a reasonable timeframe. THUS, a TAC of 13,500, while lower than previous TACs is still not enough. 0t would be optimal.

Closing the fishery to purse seiners except for 1 month in May is a good step, but not good enough as this is still a key spawning period.

And well in regards to compliance, if it were as easy as all that then I’d imagine a catch twice the TAC in 2007 would not have been caught but a stronger commitment is a positive step for sure.

Minister Shea- “In the past, Canada has been disappointed that the advice of science was not being followed by members and that overfishing continued, particularly in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. ICCAT has in place a program to effectively track and control the trade of bluefin and we have already begun to see improved monitoring and enforcement against illegal fishing activities. Our Government continues to encourage all members to act on their commitment to take steps to better manage the stocks.

Greenpeace- Canada should still be disappointed, especially given that mixing between the eastern and western stocks occurs and thus the health of one relates to the other. ICCAT’s program to track and control the trade of bluefin doesn’t seem to have been working so well and bluefin remains likely the most heavily illegally fished species in the world. A trade moratorium under CITES to allow stocks to recover is the only way to ensure stronger protection of the stocks.

Minister Shea- “Canada’s Western Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery respects the principles of the precautionary approach, follows scientific advice and is a model of sustainable management. We have limited the number of Canadian licenses for years and every fish caught in the Canadian fishery is tagged and can be tracked to market.

Greenpeace- A model for sustainable management may be taking it a tad far…and by ‘may’ I mean ‘is’. Management of the western stock is much better than the eastern stock, true, but keep in mind the western bluefin stock remains at about 15% of what it was before industrial fishing began and thus the stock and the fishery is FAR from sustainable.

Minister Shea- “ICCAT has also agreed to continued management measures for North Atlantic Swordfish, a stock that has been successfully rebuilt. Canada’s quota for this stock will be 1,473t for 2010, which is slightly increased from 2009.

Greenpeace- Too bad the longline swordfish fishery is found on Greenpeace’s Redlist because the use of this indiscriminate gear is responsible for the bycatch of endangered sea turtles and other species such as sea birds, sharks and BLUEFIN!

Minister Shea- “The Government of Canada is leading the way and remains committed to sustainable fishing practices, based on sound conservation and management principles. Ensuring ongoing economic opportunities for fishers will require determination and short-term sacrifice by all those fishing the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean in order to protect our bluefin tuna fisheries over the long term.”

Greenpeace- Yeah I’ll believe that when the majority of cod managed by DFO aren’t still in a collapsed state, failing to truly recover and aren’t still being overfished, along with various other groundfish species and salmon species.

Perhaps DFO should take some of its own advice about short-term sacrifice and stop bowing to industry pressure and instead vow to protect our ailing Canadian fish stocks for future generations….something DFO is notorious for NOT doing.