WRITTEN QUESTION E-2481/02

by Chris Davies (ELDR) to the Commission

(6 September 2002)

Subject: Tuna stocks

Is the Commission aware of the recent report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in which it is alleged that wild bluefin tuna are being fished out in of the Mediterranean Sea, and, potentially, in the Atlantic as well, because of the activities of organisations based in Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Turkey which are catching the tuna for fattening in offshore cages?

The WWF report alleges that some of these organisations are receiving EU funds to promote aquaculture but that they do actually nothing to breed or rear fish in captivity.

The report also alleges that Spain is exceeding its allocated quota of Atlantic Tuna catch and failing to report the actual amount.

Does the Commission accept the accuracy of the concerns expressed by WWF, and what action is it taking, or does it intend to take, to ensure that fishing of Atlantic Tuna takes place only at sustainable levels so as to ensure the long-term survival of stocks?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(18 October 2002)

The Commission is well aware of the WWF's report. Fattening tuna in cages is a practice that has expanded in the Mediterranean in recent years.

Bluefin tuna management in the Mediterranean is entrusted to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). The Community is a member of both these regional fishery organisations and applies all the management and conservation measures they adopt.

ICCAT and GFCM are investigating this new practice and examining what regulatory framework may be needed. The Commission in cooperation with the Member States is taking an active part in this exercise. The Community participated in the last joint GFCM/ICCAT meeting on Mediterranean stocks of large pelagic fish, at which the practice was discussed.

The Commission, as stated in its Communication on conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries in the Mediterranean(1), will play an active role, notably within international organisations, to ensure that this practice is developed in a way that does not increase fishing pressure on the wild stock, particularly on juveniles, and does not degrade the marine environment. It anticipates a very wide debate on the forthcoming revision of technical measures in the Mediterranean due by the end of 2003, and this topic will certainly be among those receiving attention. In addition the revision of the Commission Regulation implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 of 29 June 2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy(2) (Community data collection framework), also due by the end of 2003, should allow an improvement in statistical data collection.

As regards Structural Fund assistance for tuna fattening in cages, the definition of aquaculture given in Council Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 of 17 December 1999 laying down detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector(3) is such that the fattening practised notably in Spain and Italy is to be considered as aquaculture and hence is potentially eligible for assistance.

(1) COM(2002) 535.

(2) OJ L 176, 15.7.2000.

(3) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999.