Gibraltar’s bluefin tuna quota

Subject: Gibraltar’s bluefin tuna quota

On 16 June 2023, the Government of Gibraltar’s Department of the Environment, Sustainability, Climate Change and Heritage informed all anglers that the bluefin tuna fishing season in the British Gibraltar Territorial Waters started on that day.

In this communication1, fishermen are reminded that a Class K permit is required to catch bluefin tuna and that this year they will have a total allowable catch of 25 tonnes, in line with the latest increases in the regional quotas of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

As Gibraltar is not a contracting party to ICCAT and has no authorised quota2, while the European Commission is a permanent member of ICCAT and should be aware of the origin of all bluefin tuna quotas:

1. Does the Commission know the origin of the bluefin tuna quota announced by Gibraltar?

2. If its provenance is not known, has the Commission consulted the Convention about the quota’s origin and how appropriate its use is?

Submitted: 7.12.2023

1 https://infogibraltar.com/comunicados/apertura-de-la-temporada-de-pesca-de-atun-rojo-2023-c401/

2 Question for written answer E-003336/2021

Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (9 February 2024)

1. Gibraltar is a non-Contracting Party to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Commission is not aware of any ICCAT records of a bluefin tuna quota allocated to Gibraltar.

2. Following a request from the European Union, at the last ICCAT annual meeting in 2023, the Chair of ICCAT launched a discussion on the issue of bluefin tuna catches by non-Contracting Parties and the action to be taken by ICCAT in such cases. Depending on the evolution of the matter in 2024, the Commission will consider an appropriate follow up at the relevant ICCAT meetings.

1 ∙ ⸱ https://infogibraltar.com/comunicados/apertura-de-la-temporada-de-pesca-de-atun-rojo-2023-c401/

2 ∙ ⸱ Question for written answer E-003336/2021