To the despair of sushi lovers the European Union has banned fishing for bluefin tuna, according to headlines on Reuters, AFP, BBC. Actually what the EU has done is close this year’s fishing, as more bluefin have already been caught by the seven states in Europe that hunt the giant fish than quotas allow (press release). “Clearly there are problems both of over fishing a stock already threatened with collapse and of equity between the Member States concerned,” said Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

Europe has a quota of 16,779.5 tonnes of bluefin, allocated by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. Slightly unfairly, it seems some of the seven states haven’t caught their full share, but so much fish has been landed by the rest that “that the total EU quota has effectively been exhausted”, according to the Commission. Some fishing forums are not impressed with the ‘ban’. “Calling this a ‘ban’ is a joke … this is nothing more than a close to the season, to be opened again fully when next season starts,” says one enraged angler.

Several of the reports on this say demand for tuna has been pushed up by European appetites for sushi and sashimi. AFP notes the Mediterranean’s natural replacement rate is 15,000 to 16,000 tonnes. This illustrates a rather fundamental problem with the whole industry – they’re allocated a catch of nearly 800 tonnes more fish than is sustainable. Build in the amount taken by illegal catches and the poor old tuna is headed one way only – to extinction.

Contrast the current “ban” with Borg’s statement from just a week or so ago when he welcomed the latest divvying up of tuna stocks by the ICCAT. A ‘recovery plan’ will allow Europe to catch 16,249.92 tonnes for 2008; 15,679.75 for 2009 and 14,539.41 for 2010.

We have previously had a major look at how the EU sets its quotas and attempts to be more scientific about it. The NY Times has also previously highlighted arguments of tuna quotas, and is currently asking whether we’re ‘ready for life without bluefin tuna’.

Image: Measuring the length of a bluefin / NOAA