The BBC has published an article where Spanish fisherman have seen a reduction in the average size of the blue-fin, and that could mean that the spawning stock are being fished. Is the blue-fin tuna in danger of extinction?
The article writes that many of Spain’s tuna boats operate in the Mediterranean Sea, where the larger proportion of Atlantic bluefin spawn. They are joined by vessels from France, Italy, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Libya and just about every country with a Mediterranean coastline, and also some further afield.
The fishing boats fish according to annual quotas set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (Iccat).
The Spanish representative of ICCAT, Mr. Rafael Centenera, has said "The problem is that the fishery is taking place when you can fish the fishes," says Rafael Centenera, who has represented Spain at Iccat meetings.
"If you close in the month of June, you are closing the fishery. That means all the people living on that, and that’s a lot of people, are going to go home with no compensation at all.
"For sure we are friends of fish; but still more, we are the friends of fishermen."
Read Richard Black’s article from the BBC, where he comments on how the blue-fin tuna could possibly become ecologically trapped at a low-population level.
