Press corner
Commission pleased at International Commission
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas' allocation of bluefin
tuna
The European Commission has welcomed the
outcome of the meeting of the
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT), in Tokyo, last night. ICCAT agreed, at a meeting
in Dubrovnik, last November, to put in place a 15-year recovery
plan for the overfished bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and
the Mediterranean (see press
release). Among the main measures agreed at this meeting was
a gradual reduction in the overall total allowable catch (TAC)
from 32,000 tonnes to 25,500 tonnes in 2010. The allocation of
this TAC was to be decided at the meeting which ended yesterday
in Tokyo. The EU quota will be as follows: 16,820.10 for 2007;
16,249.92 for 2008; 15,679.75 for 2009 and 14,539.41 for 2010.
(The EU quota for 2006 was 18,301 tonnes). The new EU quota now
also includes the allocation for Cyprus and for Malta (155.06
tonnes and 356.45 tonnes respectively for 2007). Until now, both
Member States fished bluefin tuna under the ICCAT 'others' heading.
Following the accession of Cyprus and Malta to the EU in 2004,
it had been decided that their allocation would be integrated
into the EU bluefin tuna quota at the end of the 2002-2006 ICCAT
multi-annual management plan for this stock. The Commission will
shortly table proposals to transpose the decisions taken in Dubrovnik
and in Tokyo into EU legislation.
See also :