(Reuters) – Representatives from thirty countries are meeting on Tuesday to find ways to weaken tons in the Indian Ocean as demand for sushi and canned fish increases in Asia and the West.
The Tuna Commission of the Indian Ocean (IOTC), which groups coastal countries from Australia to Kenya, as well as the main fishing area of the European Union, met for virtually more than five days to debate yellowfin tuna quotas.
Environmentalists believe that the hot water species are in danger of deteriorating, as overfishing causes other threats to climate change and pollution.
There are also concerns about the business: British supermarkets Tesco and Co-op and Belgian retailer Colruyt promised last year not to buy more yellowfin in the Indian Ocean unless the UN commission adopts a plan to rebuild shares .
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has had the species on its “Red List” for almost a decade.
According to the London Blue Marine Foundation advocacy group, the total global catch has increased by about a third to almost 450,000 tonnes annually.
It is estimated that yellowfin tuna stocks could “collapse” within the next five years, meaning they would exceed the minimum size needed for recovery if the catch was not cut.
French and Spanish fishing fleets take the majority of the fish using industrial methods such as ‘ring net’ with large nets that often honor young yellowfin to still reproduce.
‘DELAY CATASTROPHIS CAN BE’
Coastal countries want to limit Europe’s fleets in the distant waters.
Kenya and Sri Lanka, for example, want more curbs on devices such as fish collectors: floating objects that attract tuna and other species to nets.
“They are the visitors,” said Will McCallum, head of oceans at environmental group Greenpeace UK, of the European Navy. “They fish at a much greater capacity than anyone else, and that’s not a fair state of affairs.”
The Maldives wants the yellow catch to be reduced by 15% from 2015 levels, when IOTC scientists first agreed to convince them.
The IOTC last year recommended reducing catches by 20% from 2014 levels, but retreated in January, saying it was distorted by the forecast of the 2018 stock assessment.
As a new stock assessment will not be ready until the end of 2021, the commission may postpone new measures, according to the Blue Marine Foundation.
“For a stock that is in danger of collapsing, this delay could be disastrous,” a statement said.
The European Union proposes a total catch reduction from almost 438,000 tonnes in 2019 to about 380,000 tonnes.
The demand for yellowfinch thrives because the light meat is widely used for canned fish and sushi in North America, Europe and Asia. The world’s yellowfin market in 2018 was worth $ 15.8 billion, the second highest value of the seven tonnes, according to a report by the world’s largest can of tuna company, Thai Union Group PCL.
Greenpeace’s McCallum said the issue of overfishing had come to a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic and that drastic action was now needed to avoid irreparable damage to the species.
(Reporting by Nairobi News Office; Writing by Maggie Fick; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne)