Conservation group hopeful delegates will maintain bluefin tuna quota

VILAMOURA, Portugal – A Halifax environmental group is hoping delegates at an international fisheries meeting will maintain quotas for the western Atlantic bluefin tuna to help restore the beleaguered stock.

Katie Schleit of the Ecology Action Centre is at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Portugal this week, along with delegates from 50 countries discussing the management of tuna and tuna-like species, such as swordfish and sharks.

Decisions coming out of the annual meeting will determine how fisheries in the Atlantic and Mediterranean are managed.

Schleit says the western bluefin tuna population is at 55 per cent of its level in the 1970s, with the quota being increased to 2,000 metric tonnes from 1,750 metric tonnes for 2015 and 2016.

She says she will be watching Canada’s position, since it recently recommended that the species should not be listed under the Species at Risk Act despite its endangered status.

The commission will also discuss shark populations and a possible strengthening of its ban on shark finning and catch limits for blue sharks.