Bluefin tuna ban would ruin us

AN INTERNATIONAL ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna would "destroy an entire sector of French fishing" and put coastal communities at risk, a union has warned.

The Comité National des Pêches Maritimes said France’s decision to back a ban on the delicacy showed "too much haste to satisfy environmental fantasies." It had asked the government to await results of a new assessment of tuna stocks before deciding on action.

France is the world’s biggest fisher of Atlantic bluefin tuna, accounting for a fifth of the world’s catch. Experts say stocks are just 15% of what they were and a prolonged delay in a ban could lead to extinction.

The ban was proposed by Monaco and backed by the European Commission. The European Parliament has now agreed to call for a ban when international animal protection authority Cites meets in Qatar this month. Two-thirds of the 175 Cites member countries have to agree for a species to be put on "annexe 1" which means an international ban on trading.

Jean-Marie Avallone, the founder of France’s largest tuna-fishing company Medi Pêche, objected to claims that the species was near extinction. He said the Cites endangered species list was for "Tanzania’s elephants," not bluefin tuna.

"The day they ban wild tuna fishing, we will be left with industrial tuna farming. And that’s eating rubbish," he said.

President of tuna fishermen’s union Medisamak, Mourad Kahoul, said: "It would be thoroughly irresponsible to put bluefin tuna on the list of endangered species and write off thousands of jobs in a sector already overwhelmed by the economic crisis."

The French government said that while it agreed on a ban, it would like an 18-month delay while more studies were done.

It also wanted to ensure fishing could continue by "artisan" fishermen - about 200 small boats - who mainly sell locally. MEPs backed the latter proposal, but not the delay. They also agreed on a need for compensation for fishermen and shipping companies who will lose out.

Greenpeace said the 18-month delay was a sop to the fishermen ahead of this month’s regional elections. "It’s like saying we will wait until there are no more bluefin tuna," a spokesman said.

Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo says he wants fishing to be able to start again if stocks return - however fishermen point out no species has ever come off the Cites list. Some 80% of bluefin tuna goes to Japan and can fetch as much as e200/kilo.

-- An experiment is being carried out in France’s territories in the extreme south Atlantic - the Terres Australes et Antarctiques - into new ways of catching légine australe (Patagonian toothfish). The 2m-long fish is prized for its delicate white flesh and France has a third of the world’s quota.

Hundreds of kinds of trap, similar to lobster pots, are being tested to replace longline fishing with many dangling hooks.

Pots are deemed more eco-friendly and should also safeguard the catch - whales have discovered the lines of fish on hooks make an easy snack.