Good news: the Atlantic bluefin tuna is no longer an “endangered” species. This was announced by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in September, during its congress in Marseille, now classifying the Thunnus thynnus in the category of “minor concern” on its red list. Decimated by overfishing and illegal fishing, this large predator, coveted for its meat, almost disappeared from the regions they have been crisscrossing since the dawn of time. An unprecedented mobilization, discussions in the highest international bodies and a “tunamobile” launched in pursuit of Bruno Le Maire (then Minister of Agriculture), managed to save the stocks of bluefin tuna in extremis. As the One Ocean Summit opened on Wednesday February 9 in Brest, a look back at a success that brings hope for many marine species.
The decline of a giant of the seas
Atlantic bluefin tuna can reach the size of a cow. It reproduces mainly in the Mediterranean but can cover 200 km in one day and travel, during its long life – which can reach forty – from the ice caps to the Brazilian coasts via the shores of the Black Sea. “He’s a fantastic animal”summarizes Tristan Rouyer, bluefin tuna specialist at theFrench research institute for the exploitation of the sea (Ifremer).
In the 1980s and 1990s, its consumption exploded, driven by the Japanese market, fond of its red flesh which is eaten in particular in sushi and other sashimi. As early as 1996, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) declared bluefin tuna to be overexploited. “But until 2006, it continued to be overexploited”, explains the scientist. The authority, and the major bluefin tuna fishing States represented there, in the forefront of which is France, followed by Spain, is unable to follow the recommendations of its own scientific council.
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“Scientists were saying not to fish more than 15,000 tonnes a year so as not to make the situation worse. But the politically decided quota was 30,000 and the actual fishing was 60,000”assures François Chartier, Ocean campaign manager at Greenpeace.
“We fished four times what the real stock could take in a year.”
François Chartier, ocean specialist at Greenpeaceat franceinfo
“The licenses had been allocated at levels well above what the quotas could satisfy, with 36 boats in the Mediterranean. We had created the conditions for a complete runaway. It was catastrophic.”
A mobilization in the face of “denial”
While working on the campaign launched by Greenpeace on the issue of bluefin tuna, from 2006, François Chartier only noticed “denial”, “the denial of the reality of what is denounced and exposed and therefore the refusal to discuss with NGOs, both at the national level or at the level of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas“.
In the French Mediterranean ports, the fishing skippers of these large tuna boats ensure, in a completely exaggerated “folk”that“you have to push the tuna to see the sea”. When the NGO and its ship, the rainbow warriorarrive at the entrance to the port of Marseille, she is received by fire hoses. “We were attacked by the entire tuna fleet which had come from Sète and the various Mediterranean ports to welcome us.remembers François Chartier. It was brutal.”
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The general public is not aware of it. “Because the particularity of bluefin tuna is that it is fished by French and Spaniards, but the fish are fattened in Malta, Turkey or the Balearic Islands (in marine farms). They do not land on the docks and go for export, mainly to Japan. Nobody knew about it.” But over the campaigns, and thanks to the attraction of the media for this war between fishermen and NGOs, the message gets through. Some supermarkets then decided to no longer market bluefin tuna. A gesture “symbolic”explains the activist, who is helping to alert people to the situation, until “turning point” mobilization in 2010.
That year, Monaco requested the classification of Atlantic bluefin tuna in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). Such a decision would simply ban international trade in bluefin tuna. A huge push for this “business that is by nature part of an international chain”, explains François Chartier. The reluctant countries – “France, the European Union and the United States” – reconsider their position. In the Senate, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Bruno Le Maire, is questioned on the issue, while Greenpeace follows him closely with his “thonmobile”a car with a huge dummy tuna hanging on the roof.
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To force the main Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing country into action, the NGO is carrying out actions on the Seine during the ICCAT conference, which is being held in November 2010 in Paris. Activists hold up signs: “bluefin tuna: 5 days to live”in reference to the duration of the conference likely to seal the fate of the tuna.
The application of strict regulations
The ICCAT countries end up accepting that the catch is strictly limited to fish over 30 kg. In a few years, a series of measures came to restrict fishing. French tuna boats are subject to fines, forced to repair the damage of years of illegal fishing. The number of boats is restricted and the Atlantic tuna fishing quota is set at 12,900 tonnes in 2011. France, undermined by its “tuna debt”, is in fact limited to catching a thousand animals . To ensure this, strict controls are put in place, with EU countries sending warships to monitor the activity.
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Above all, the tuna boats comply with the regulations. “We saw a big change in morals and then excellent cooperation with scientists”rejoices Tristan Rouyer, from Ifremer. He can now count on the help of fishermen, who gladly welcome him on board to carry out his work. “They put themselves at my disposal to help me, I’m going to do the seine fishing season [technique de pêche qui consiste à capturer les poissons à la surface en pleine eau en les encerclant à l’aide d’un filet de pêche] with weaponry. I see everything”he assures. “Several years ago, it would have been complicated yes… Very complicated”recognizes the scientist.
The return of a resilient fish
By placing beacons on these giants of the seas, Tristan Rouyer studies the comings and goings of schools of Atlantic bluefin tuna, but also their number. A fun activity:
“Since 2012, all of the assessments we’ve done have shown the stock to be getting better and better. All indicators point to the stock still going up.”
Tristan Rouyer, bluefin tuna specialist at Ifremerat franceinfo
The improvement can even be seen from the sky, on board planes sent over the Gulf of Lions to list them. “At the worst time of the crisis, in the early 2000s, on 10 to 12 flights between August and September, we saw 60 schools of tuna. Most recently, we could see 300 schools of tuna in one flight “, testifies Tristan Rouyer. A revolution operated in a decade, about the same time as it took to put the species – which has never been threatened with extinction – in danger.
But with the improvement in the condition of the Atlantic bluefin tuna came the time to increase the quotas. They increased to 36,000 tonnes in 2002. But this trend worries the head of Greenpeace, for whom these decisions reduce the chances of the species reaching its maximum sustainable yield, namely what “point of equilibrium of the population, which means that on the whole we do not fish more than what the stock produces”. It thus calls for maintaining vigilance and also points to dysfunctions in the distribution of quotas, which favor industrialists to the detriment of artisanal fishing, considered to be more respectful of the resource.
However, this campaign remains a success for those who campaign for the preservation of marine ecosystems. “It allowed, for a moment at least, to create awareness, on bluefin tuna, but more generally on the problem of overfishing”, believes François Chartier. As the One Ocean Summit opens, he believes that this bluefin tuna saga “exposed the dysfunctions of regional fisheries management organizations – such as ICCAT – and raises the question of the governance of the high seas”.
For Tristan Rouyer, this episode also contains a major lesson, applicable to other species, sometimes less resilient than the Atlantic bluefin tuna: “When there is a political will to put in place the recommendations of the scientists, we immediately see the effects. The implementation of control has made it possible to turn the situation around, and this is valid for all fisheries. “