(MM / 09-09-09)  Oceana has sent a letter to Mr Barroso, President of the European Commission, Mr Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, and Mr. Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment, calling for the Commission support for the listing of bluefin tuna in Appendix 1 of the CITES Convention for endangered species.

The Atlantic Bluefin tuna has been put to the brink of collapse. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has failed in their commitments for maintaining the bluefin tuna fishery within sustainable levels, and now it is time to move forward to more drastical and urgent measures.

The listing of bluefin tuna in Appendix I of CITES (the International Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species) would eliminate the main cause of tuna overexploitation which is the international market hunger by banning completely the international trade of this endangered species. This is the only chance of survival for bluefin tuna.

The Principality of Monaco has tabled a Proposal for the listing of this species in Appendix I and policy negotiations are ongoing in the European Union about supporting or not the Proposal. The EU holds the highest fisheries quota of Atlantic bluefin tuna with Italy, Spain, and France being the largest fishing countries and having the highest number of bluefin tuna farms in the Mediterranean.

Lletter from Oceana to Mr Barroso

Mr Jose Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
Mr Stavros Dimas
Commissioner for the Environment
Mr Joe Borg
Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
European Commission, 1049 Brussels, Belgium

Madrid, 4 September 2009

Subject: Bluefin Tuna, Commission Recommendation for 2010 CITES COP.

Dear President and Commissioners,

Before the upcoming end of the Commission´s term you are confronted with the exceptional opportunity to back up a most needed international conservation measure: the listing of Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in Appendix I of CITES, as proposed by the Principality of Monaco.

The listing of Bluefin Tuna in CITES, Appendix I, is well known to be the only international initiative able to save the magnificent Bluefin Tuna from commercial extinction when existing EU and regional fisheries management regimes have proven to be unable to maintain the stock within the sustainable levels and control regimes have been demonstrated to be insufficient to prevent illegal fishing, for these reasons they are therefore very likely to fail in the future too.

The EU has a strong domestic and international commitment to protect biodiversity and halt its dramatic increasing loss. The commitment has been often restated by the Council, such as the 2008 Spring Council, as one the top policy priority of the EU.

However, the Commission 2008 mid-term assessment the of the EU Biodiversity Action Plan reveals that the EU will not meet its conservation target by 2010, as set by the UN Millennium Development Goals.

This has happened despite the EU Treaty making available to the Commission, Council and European Parliament effective and first- class instruments, such as a general ´aim to high level of environmental protection´, ´the precautionary principle and ´sustainable development´.

The present highly threatened population status of Bluefin Tuna is a symbolic example of how the lack of timely and effective policy action, associated with a disregard for scientific recommendations, could compromise the survival of a species on the planet.

On behalf of Oceana, the international marine conservation organization, I therefore call on you not to miss the last chance to take action for saving Bluefin Tuna and recommend full support to the Principality of Monaco´s Proposal.

One of the renewed commitments from the 2008 mid-review of the EU Biodiversity Action Plan is to “substantially reduce the impact of international trade on global biodiversity and ecosystem services”. International commercial trade is the greatest driver of Bluefin Tuna decline globally and therefore CITES is the most adequate international instrument to address an effective solution.

It is important to note that evidence shows that fisheries regimes such as ICCAT have contributed strongly to the decline of Bluefin Tuna by setting annual quotas far higher than scientific recommendations and authorizing fisheries in spawning grounds during spawning seasons.

The global oceans have already lost more than 90% of large predatory fish and time is now running out for Bluefin Tuna, one of the most beautiful and emblematic species in the Mediterranean.

Yours sincerely,

Xavier Pastor
Executive Director, Oceana - Europe