WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt, today announced that he is urging the Bush Administration to take a strong stance in seeking compliance from other nations who are in violation of conservation and management recommendations for the Atlantic bluefin tuna.

“It is essential that the United States take a strong role in asking other nations who fish for bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean to follow through on their commitment to restoring this fishery,” Delahunt said. “The refusal to comply with these recommendations puts the Western Atlantic bluefin tuna stock in danger of collapse.”

The call for more aggressive enforcement of conservation is the purpose of H. CON. RES. 229, a bipartisan resolution introduced by Congressman Frank Pallone and supported by Reps. Delahunt, Wayne Gilchrest and Tom Allen.

In 1981, the United States and other nations fishing in the Western Atlantic Ocean recognized a need to take action toward restoring the decline in Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks.  An agreement was adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), represented by the United States and 42 other nations, to relieve pressure on these stocks.

However, in spite of these efforts, the continued decline of tuna stocks has prompted the development and implementation of a science-based recovery plan for Western Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks.

The plan seeks to address the overfishing of Bluefin tuna that occurs in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and in areas where eastern Atlantic and western Atlantic Bluefin tuna stocks mix. The over-fishing that occurs in the tuna’s spawning grounds in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean is a factor in the overall decline of catches off of the coast of Massachusetts and is of great concern to fishermen on Cape Cod and on the South Shore.

In the last five years, the Massachusetts catch of Bluefin Tuna has declined from 1,011 metric tons valued at over $15 million to 108 metric tons valued at just $1.5 million.  

This Congressional resolution specifically expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States through the ICCAT should:

• review and assess member nation compliance with conservation and management measures already adopted by the Commission for the bluefin tuna fishery
• deduct a proportion of  future bluefin tuna quota from nations which refuse to comply 
• seek explanations from member nations that have not fully implemented the conservation plan
• strengthen the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna management plan by making further recommendations to halt the decline and rebuild the stock

The ICCAT was established in 1966 to coordinate international research and develop conservation and management recommendations for Atlantic bluefin tuna.   In November 2008, the U.S. delegation to ICCAT will travel to Antalya, Turkey for the 20th regular meeting of the ICCAT. 

To view a copy of this legislation, please click here.

 

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