William Atkins
Monday, 16 November 2009 23:14
Science -
Biology
Page 1 of 2
The 48-nation International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has agreed to cut by about one-third the quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in 2009 for the 2010 fishing season. Will it be enough to save it from extinction?
The Sunday, November 15, 2009 announcement was made by ICCAT chairperson Fabio Hazin after a meeting in Recife, Brazeil
The
ICCAT set the annual fishing limit in an effort to save the bluefin tuna from extinction.
The members of the ICCAT agreed to:
• Cut the annual quota for bluefin in 2010 to 13,500 tonnes, down from 19,950 tonnes in 2009.
• Cut in the tuna-fishing season to one month.
• Implement a recovery plan for the bluefin tuna (which would hopefully give a 60% probability that the bluefin stock would recover within 15 years).
• Also, ban fishing of the endangered big-eye thresher sharks.
However, many environmental groups are not happy with the quota. Some of them want a zero quota—no fishing for bluefin tuna.
The ABC News article “
Fishing Body Agrees to Cut in Atlantic Tuna Quota” talks in more depth about the environmental stance on the catching of bluefin tuna.
In addition, on November 16, 2009, the United States issued a statement on this new quota on the bluefin tuna and the ICCAT’s decision.
Page two continues with the statement made by U.S. NOAA.
