Although countries that catch tuna in the Pacific see the ban as a form of responsible fishing, this mechanism alone is not enough to ensure the survival of a resource threatened worldwide, environmentalists say.
The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which brings together countries that fish tuna in the Pacific, adopted the ban on the most commonly caught species: yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (T. obesus) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis).
"These are necessary conservation measures," said one of the businessmen from CIAT. "If we do not comply with the provisions of the bans, fishing would be declared illegal and we would not be able to market it," he added.
The bans imposed by CIAT, based on studies by the scientific committee, restrict fishing to 62 days per year and are mandatory in Ecuador, Belize, Canada, China, Colombia, USA, France, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Peru, EU, among other countries. Compliance with the bans will be monitored by independent observers and through satellite systems.
But "bans don't necessarily mean a reduction in fishing," said Greenpeace activist Sari Tolvanen. For a start, they are too short to make a difference. Fleets fishing by purse seine fishing catch 751t3t a year, and stop operating when they need to carry out mechanical checks anyway, she added.
Purse seine fishing is one of the least sustainable, as it involves fishing with nets that "circle" schools of fish, leading to incidental fishing of fish that are not being sought. In addition, purse seine vessels are very large and use devices to catch more fish, "plants" or floating objects, so these temporary bans make little sense, he said.
When fishing for skipjack tuna, FADs increase the incidental catch of bigeye and yellowfin tuna that are not yet big enough to be exploited, putting these species and others, such as sharks and turtles, even more at risk.
In its resolution, the IATTC acknowledged that fishing in the Eastern Pacific is increasing and that production can be reduced if the catch is excessive. In other parts of the world, tuna is already at critical levels.
Bigeye and yellowfin tuna, Greenpeace notes, have been overfished in all seas and are in serious trouble in the Pacific, where a few years ago they were relatively safe. The bluefin tuna, typical of the Atlantic, has seen its population decline by 801 t/3 t in some places since 1999, putting it on the brink of extinction. In the Eastern Pacific, yellowfin and bigeye tuna are at risk.
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has a table showing the risk of tuna overfishing in all seas, using a traffic light system where red is the most critical level. On that table, bigeye and yellowfin are in yellow, as they cannot sustain any increase in catch and in some cases show signs of overfishing. Only the skipjack species remains in green.
In 2009, some 595,000 tons of tuna were caught in this region, 14 percent of the world's tuna catch.
Spain, which has the largest fleet in the EU and the third largest in the world behind China and Peru, catches most of its tuna in the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and off the coast of West Africa, but according to Greenpeace, the “Spanish fishing armada” sails the world's seas in pursuit of more substantial catches of tuna, shark and cod.
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