Sustainable fishing ENGO fish4tomorrow has hit out at decisions to raise tuna quotas, saying that the decision lacks responsible scientific reasoning.
"It is an irresponsible interpretation of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)'s Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS) report," fish4tomorrow has told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
"In its previous report, the SCRS noted the encouraging signs bluefin tuna was showing; however, it also noted numerous gaps in the data such as the absence of information on illegal fishing, which accounts for a large percentage of the catch. In its previous report, the SCRS advised that bluefin tuna quotas should be left the same or only increased slightly.
"The latest SCRS report keeps more or less the same tone as the previous one. Bluefin tuna have shown encouraging signs of recovery; however the report says that 'most of the data limitations that have plagued previous assessments remain' and that current assessment methods need to be changed to more appropriate ones."
Other concerns were expressed in the report, the ENGO said. A representative of fish4tomorrow quoted from the report: "While current controls appear sufficient to constrain the fleet to harvests at or below the total allowable catch, the Committee has not assessed the current fishing capacity and remains concerned about current capacity which could easily harvest catch volumes well in excess of the rebuilding strategy adopted by the Commission."
ICCAT's scientific committee has a responsibility to provide-decision makers with clearer and more robust scientific advice, fish4tomorrow said.
"National and European decision-makers have also used irresponsible interpretation of the report to justify pushing for the increase in total allowable catch, such as Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Clint Camilleri's call to 'reap the fruits of the success achieved by the recovery plan'. Such statements - and the subsequent increase - are short-sighted, especially since the SCRS report itself does not confirm the recovery of the stock.
"If we really want to ensure a successful and sustainable recovery plan that benefits the fishing communities and ensures tuna for years to come, we need to base policy on more rigorous scientific data, we need policy-makers to follow such advice and we need constant collaboration and communication with the local fishing communities," said the ENGO spokesman.