Italy exposed

Bad news for the Italian fisheries. A new report by WWF, called “Lifting the lid on Italy’s bluefin tuna fishery”, confirmed the Italy’s widespread disregard of fisheries management rules for Mediterranean bluefin tuna.

The report surveyed Italian catches and markets and found out that the fishing for Mediterranean bluefin tuna is unsustainable and totally out of control. It had been shown that, for example, Italy is fishing twice the legal national quota, most of the time fishing boats are assisted by illegal spotter aircrafts or are without fishing licence, and the real catches are often unregistered.

WWF will present this new report to the Italian fisheries ministry and to European Commission fisheries officials, urging prompt investigations. WWF is advocating an immediate closure, until the fishery is brought under control and sustainable management measures are put in place.

Silvia Bonizzoni

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Photo credit: WWF

WWF: more information
WWF: the report as pdf file
WWF: what you can do to save the bluefin tuna