Press Release: Bluefin tuna fisheries: Commission opens infringement procedures against 7 Member States

The European Commission has opened infringement procedures against the seven Member States which take part in the EU bluefin tuna fishery in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Letters of formal notice have been sent to Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain for failings in their obligation to send catch data to the Commission. In the case of France and Italy, the infringement procedure also concerns shortcomings in their control in this fishery. Member States have a month to respond to the Commission. On 19 September, the Commission closed the EU bluefin fishery until the end of 2007 as the EU quota for this year has been exhausted (see IP/07/1355). Bluefin tuna is dwindling due to years of over fishing. It is imperative that the international recovery plan, agreed last year by the international Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), be urgently and fully implemented by all fishing parties.