EC to ban trade in tuna, porbeagle and spiny dogfish ?

The EC is proposing a negotiating stance of a near-total trade ban in bluefin tuna at the upcoming CITES meeting in Doha in a bid to save the fish from serious decline in the Mediterranean; it will also call for restrictions on trade in porbeagle and spiny dogfish shark. A weighted majority of EU member states must now agree the EU position.

The European commissioners for Environment and Fisheries will jointly present the proposal, bringing an end to weeks of wrangling between their departments over bluefin tuna. However, it’s only a proposal and the detail of the agreement is still being decided.

Stocks of Mediterranean bluefin tuna, a sushi staple, have plummeted since the 1960s. In 2007, the amount of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean was 1,600 tones, 8% of the amount caught in 1964, according to an unpublished Commission paper.

There is firmer agreement for porbeagle sharks and spiny dogfish to be added to CITES appendix II, where trade is permitted under tightly controlled conditions.

If you catch a tagged fish

Please leave the tag in the fish.

Note the telephone number or address on the tag and write down the number of the tag. If you have a suitable sling and scales then take the measurements and weigh the fish.

Please keep the fish in water as much as possible.

And don’t forget Log the data here.

Shark papers by Lauren Smith

On the BBC & ITV

and Gordon Goldie gives an interview here on ITV.

During Sharkatag 2010 the CBBC / BBC Newsround programme did a item with Kiera Merrifield and Bradley Burrett – see it at CBBC / BBC website

The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network

The SSTP is part of the the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network, an independent Charity registered in Scotland which was created to focus on conservation issues in the marine environment and in particular those affecting sea anglers.