Bluefin tuna fleet urged to stay within its commitments

The Commissioner of Fisheries of the European Union (EU), Maria Damanaki, has asked large scale fishing fleets which catch bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean to respect their commitments for the current fishing season.

18 May 2011, 12:00am

1 min read

The fishing of bluefin tuna began on May 15 and will run until June 15.

Brussels hopes that the seven nations authorised to fish in these areas - Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus - settle all their liabilities.

For this year, a total quota of bluefin tuna catch of 5,756 tonnes has been stipulated for European ships.

To coincide with the season, the European Commission (EC) has launched a control and inspection programme which involves inspectors, patrol vessels and aircraft.

This is being managed by the EU executive, the European Agency for the Control of Fisheries and Member States.

The EC will be responsible for reviewing the catches and for analysing the information about the activity of each vessel collected via satellite.