Posted on September, 24 2013

Champions for sustainable fishing in the Mediterranean were recognised with Conservation Merit awards at the WWF Annual Conference. Dr Sergi Tudela has personally led the campaign to stop overfishing of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna for over a decade, seeking to restore this iconic fishery to good health. Fighting years of greed and vested interests, and with tuna stocks close to collapse, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) finally heeded the science and reduced quotas: the fishery is beginning to recover. And a committee representing all stakeholders involved in the artisanal Mediterranean sandeel fishery was commended for its novel participative, bottom-up approach to achieving sustainable fishery management.