Posted on April, 29 2002

Cartagena, Murcia, Spain.- WWF, Greenpeace, and ANSE denounced the huge growth of "fattening facilities" in the Mediterranean during a visit of the 15 EU Agriculture Ministers to a bluefin tuna farm located near Tiñoso Cape (Cartagena, Murcia) onboard the Spanish Navy flag ship Juan Sebastián El Cano. Representatives from WWF, Greenpeace, and ANSE sailed to the fattening facility onboard the sailing boat ELSE in order to give the EU Ministers a document asking for a moratorium on new Mediterranean bluefin tuna farms. The ELSE displayed a banner with the text "STOP Blue Fin Tuna Overfishing". Their intention was to reach the Spanish Navy ship in a lifeboat displaying a second banner saying "STOP tuna farms" and give the EU delegation a document with several petitions concerning tuna farming. However, the Spanish Government Delegation in Murcia stopped the ELSE and prevented the NGOs from presenting the document to the ministers. Tuna farming — caging of wild tuna for fattening — is a phenomenon driven mainly by Japanese market demands. Farmed tuna is higher in oil content, which makes it particularly desirable for sushi. Tuna farming strongly contributes to the growing overfishing of the world's most important bluefin tuna breeding population, which lives along the Levantine and Balearic Spanish coast. The Murcian coast is the biggest producer of fattened captive tuna in the world. Six authorised facilities are currently operating in the area with three new facilities going through the EIA (environmental impact assessment) process. Most of the tuna farms are located in "highly ecological sensitive areas", such as the Azohía-Tiñoso Cape environs. Tuna farms are also located in Croatia and Malta, and France, Tunisia, and Algeria are interested in developing this activity. A total of 12 farms currently operate in the Mediterranean tuna farms, and produced 11,000 tons of tuna fish in 2001 — more than half the traded blue fin tuna in the world. WWF, Greenpeace, and ANSE are concerned that the new facilities waiting for permission in Murcia, Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands will increase the already excessive pressure on the bluefin tuna breeding population. The three NGOs are denouncing this unsound situation, where tuna catches are not regulated as the farms escape management regulations set by bodies such as the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). WWF, Greenpeace, and ANSE are also warning about the possible disturbance of local and regional food chains due to the large number of small pelagic fish caught to feed the captive tuna. The catching of these fish could affect protected species such as Common dolphins that can occasionally be found in large numbers off the Cartagena coast. The NGOs are convinced that bluefin tuna cannot survive the continuous growth of tuna farms on the Spanish coast, and are calling for the following measures to be taken: • A moratorium on the development of new tuna farming in Mediterranean countries • Proper and harmonized regulations for tuna farming practices, since these are large-scale agro-industrial operations with major environmental impacts • If appropriate, setting of a quantitative limit for farming through specific farming quotas, as a fraction of the total catch quota • Monitoring and regulation of the fishing of small and medium-sized fish to feed the farmed tuna • Establishment of a "No Take Zone" for the Mediterranean bluefin tuna breeding population. For further information: José Luis García Head of Marine Programme, WWF-Spain tel.: +34 913 54 05 78