Tuna quotas

benri · June 15, 2009, 11:56:24 CET

Thanks a million Joe! Thanks for the great initiative. In the meantime do you suggest we send in our licences as requested? I think I will be holding on to mine for the time being.

skip · June 15, 2009, 11:57:12 CET

Joe one thing to add which I feel is an important point, is that member states are NOT obliged to include the landings of recreational fishers as part of the country's TAC. They can do it if they want, but I fail to understand why Malta chose to do this given that our TAC is already small.....by all means inform the EU that Malta has various control mechanisms (the licence) and that all recreational catches must be reported to Fisheries who in turn will report to the EU.

Clearly the commercial guys especially the purse seiners have gone over their limit and now the measly 3 tonnes allocated to rec fishing has been swallowed up. If the government want to save face, they should leave the permits that they allocated as is and merely report at the end of the season what the total landings from rec fishers were. They are perfectly entitled to do this and in full EU legal compliance

busumark · June 15, 2009, 12:08:10 CET

well done joe i am going to keep mine. whats the point of returning back a piece of useless paper. even if you dont return it you still cant keep tuna so they want me to return the permit so that i consume fuel and the government gets revenue on my fuel also. when we are going to serouis policy makers in this country

lazyfisherman · June 15, 2009, 16:42:16 CET

A quota for a particular season being used up before the season has even opened?

So is this a case of the fisheries having issued permits, people have prepared their boats, bought tackle etc to fish according to the permit only for the permit to be withdrawn before the season even opened?

I know nothing about this type of fishing but if the situation is how I am reading it, it is totally absurd, ridiculous and a gross insult to recreational fishermen in general.

craus · June 16, 2009, 21:00:48 CET

Apparently the season has been extended!!!

A friend of mine told me this morning that the season has been extended because of all the pressure from professional fishermen. Is this true? What about the recreational permits, have they still been withdrawn?

busumark · June 18, 2009, 07:51:37 CET

GAFFER did you get any reply

The_Gaffer · June 18, 2009, 12:17:52 CET

Craus: That is not true. The only consession extended was to 12 boats which at the time of announcing the season closed, were still out fishing for Tuna and naturally were exempted from getting rid of their catch.

Busumark: Yes, spoke with Dr. Gruppetta. Skip and myself have a followup meeting next week. Please keep in mind that the quota allocated to Malta by ICCAT has been exhasted, so Tuna Fishing season is now closed for all, commercial and recreational. This is a fact that we all have to accept, however bitter it is. Malta is a member of ICCAT, and thus has to abide by the rules. Even since the last meeting in Morocco in October 2008, the rules have changed for recreational catch reports. Whereas before it was on a volountary basis for each member state to report BFT catches by recreational fishermen, since October 2008, it is now mandatory. Malta was allocated a quota of 262 Tons, of which 2 tons were allocated to recreational fishermen. Since the full quota was exceeded in the 1st few days of the open season due to the favourable weather, the authorities had no alternative but to close the BFT fishing season. To put it simply, there is no quota left. Its not a question of our 2 tons subsidising the commercial quota, but just that the full quota as exceeded.
However, Dr. Gruppetta did mention a compromise, and we shall be discussing this during the meeting next week. More on this compromise after our discussions.
In the meantime, I am duty bound to inform all that it is illegal to either fish for, or be caught carrying tackle inside your boat with the explicit purpose of fishing for BFT.

shanook · June 18, 2009, 13:13:07 CET

Did u guys return the notice (permit) for tuna quota?

robby017 · June 18, 2009, 13:42:51 CET

if i had it, i wouldn't if i were you!!! God knows how much money most of us spent on big game tackle, only to hear the season is closed b4 it was opened.

Granitu · June 18, 2009, 13:48:42 CET

true there is a lot of beurocracy and it is very unfair but you have to point out the fact that tuna is becoming an endangered species

unfortunately. as always, the way things are administered are less than fair and often is subject to bribes, political moves and others.

that is the business world. this was a lesson we learnt during an international marketing module on how to deal with political people, it is not fantasy what i am saying, just the seldom truth, unfortunately. the real culprit of all this is beurocracy, and who create beurocracy??? politicians.. and it is created for money

pathetic to say the least. i am quite curious how mr grupetta is going to justify this action, very CURIOUS. but importantly it will be no one's fault....lol. let me note that someone took your alloted quote and instead that they suffer consequences.... no you will suffer them

robby017 · June 18, 2009, 14:00:03 CET

Quotetrue there is a lot of beurocracy and it is very unfair but you have to point out the fact that tuna is becoming an endangered species

do you think the one off tuna caught by a recreational fisherman is endangering the fish stocks.... i highly doubt it... i'm speaking in general now... its the full time PURSE SEINERS, not even the long liners but the PURSE SEINERS that are the culprits, the ones that have brought fishing to such a sophisticated and professional level that tuna stands no chance now... its sad, so very sad.

The_Gaffer · June 18, 2009, 14:02:53 CET

Quote from: robby017 on June 18, 2009, 13:42:51 CET
if i had it, i wouldn't if i were you!!! God knows how much money most of us spent on big game tackle, only to hear the season is closed b4 it was opened.

you still can't use it Robby017...it is void and without value. Season is closed.

robby017 · June 18, 2009, 14:05:05 CET

yes i know.... frame it

Granitu · June 18, 2009, 14:14:56 CET

robby it is true but in maltese we say

"bil qatra l qatra timtela l garra"

you have to do a stop at some point but still... it is very unfair and whoever this mr grupetta is has to hold himself liable if he is in charge.....

skip · June 18, 2009, 14:17:47 CET

Guys we're all disappointed, like Granitu pointed out stocks are dwindling and potentially there will be a moratorium on Bluefin Tuna Fishing in the Med in the next couple of years....that's the only way to allow fish stocks to recover.

I want to clarify what The Gaffer said concerning if you get caught with equipment to specifically catch tuna - at least how I'm interpreting it.....

Basically if you've got large hooks, rigged on 200-300lbs mono, with bait for use on a rod or with nylon and jerry cans you will be considered to be specifically targeting Tuna.....this will be even more obvious if you're close to any of the Tuna Fish Farms.

On the other hand if you've got large trolling lures then as everyone knows artificial lures are not species specific so you should not have any legal issues there, but if you do catch a BFT you will need to release it and not land it on your boat.

To me if you're out drifting for Swordfish with large hooks, mono and bait, I wouild argue that you're not specifically targeting tuna, again if you catch one you'll need to release it especially if you're nowhere near a fish farm.

Personally I don't think any court will uphold prosecuting you over the equipment issue that has been mentioned unless you are near one of the fish farms, and then as per the MMA safety at sea guidelines you're actually breaking the law....stay outside of the cardinal marks and you're fine in terms of boat placement, but be careful what tackle you're carrying.

What I would like to achieve is permission throughout the year to hook up BFT be it trolling, or drifting near the fishfarms (but outside of the Carindinal Marks) but strictly on a catch and release basis. The excitement and enjoyment for us recreational fishers is in the hook up and the fight.....to see if our equipment and technique was up to the challenge.