Multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna

Key points

• The EESC welcomes the adoption of a multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna fisheries in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, since the current level of biomass for this population, at a historic high, means that the emergency measures introduced under the earlier recovery plan can be dropped.
• The Committee considers that laying down a multiannual management plan in the European Union, that ensures the application of the measures set out in Recommendation 18-02 adopted at the 21st special meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in 2018, is the best way of maintaining stocks above biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield, taking account of the specificities of the different types of gear and fishing techniques used in these fisheries.
• The EESC would suggest that the legislators update the proposal for a regulation in order to incorporate the amendments agreed in 2019 by the ICCAT in its Recommendation 19-04.