History and Tuna fishing in the Adraitic

[aloop]

The gillnet is the Spadare/ Feluche and it's illegal over there?

[Heli Sports]

The gillnet is the Spadare/ Feluche and it's illegal over there?

Yes, all pelagic drift gillnetting has been prohibited in the Mediterranean Sea since 2002. However, Italy has, for the most part, either made their own regulations regarding this gear type, or ignored ICCAT entirely regarding Swordfishing.

A Spadara is a gillnet with a mesh size between 340 to 460 mm specific to Swordfishing.

"Feluche?" Perhaps you mean Feluca, which is a traditional type of vessel common to the Straits of Messina and other parts of Italy.

A Ferrettara is another type of gillnet used in Italian fisheries with mesh size of 80 to 160 mm and commonly used to target Albacore and other small tunas.

Pelagic drift gillnetting is a relatively new fishery in the Mediterranean Sea. Large scale use of this gear type began in this area during the mid 1980's. With the traditional longline and harpoon Swordfisheries in decline, many vessels in Italy and in particular the fleets of Isola di Ponza and the Liparic Islands and Sicily began targeting Swordfish with gillnets. This method was productive and during the early 1990's fleets in Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Turkey began to harvest Sword and Tuna with gillnet. By 1998, there were over 600 vessels using this gear type in Italy alone. Fishing mainly in the Liparic and Tyrrenian Sea areas. Italian gillnet Swordfish landings approached 5000 metric tons in 2001.

Of course this fishing technique is very destructive to Cetaceans, Sea Turtles and many other non-target species, and the United Nations, ICCAT and EU all began gradually dismantling these fisheries. First by prohibiting the length of the nets to exceed 2.5 kilometers, and eventually banning all use of this gear type.

Italy however, has never strictly enforced this ban. In fact, Italy has ceased declaring their landings of Swordfish, so little is known about how much Sword is actually being harvested by their various fleets. The Italian gillnet fleet has contracted significantly since pelagic gillnetting was prohibited, and the Italian government has subsidized these vessels to switch to different fisheries, but it's estimated that there still may be as many as 100 Italian vessels continuing to drift net for Swordfish.

My only experience with pelagic gillnetting in the Mediterranean Sea was during the mid 1990's when I was handling the tuna being produced by French vessels gillnetting school and medium sized Bluefin in the Gulf du Lion area of France during April and May of each year. This area has historically been the habitat for large numbers of juvenile Bluefin. The tuna caught by these small center console boats were excellent quality, the vessels returning each morning with the previous nights production in top condition. The French technique (Thonaille) was to tend these nets and attempt to harvest the tuna in live condition so they could be properly exsanguinated. Production from this fishery was extremely fresh and Japanese auction prices were excellent because we were able to get these fish into slurry tanks fairly quickly.

This link provides more information on Mediterranean pelagic gillnet fisheries:

http://www.iccat.int/Documents/SCRS/...3_GILL_ENG.pdf

[aloop]

I just came across this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt_ckARZxwc

[Patudo]

Yes, all pelagic drift gillnetting has been prohibited in the Mediterranean Sea since 2002. However, Italy has, for the most part, either made their own regulations regarding this gear type, or ignored ICCAT entirely regarding Swordfishing...

With the traditional longline and harpoon Swordfisheries in decline, many vessels in Italy and in particular the fleets of Isola di Ponza and the Liparic Islands and Sicily began targeting Swordfish with gillnets. This method was productive and during the early 1990's fleets in Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Turkey began to harvest Sword and Tuna with gillnet. By 1998, there were over 600 vessels using this gear type in Italy alone. Fishing mainly in the Liparic and Tyrrenian Sea areas. Italian gillnet Swordfish landings approached 5000 metric tons in 2001.

Of course this fishing technique is very destructive to Cetaceans, Sea Turtles and many other non-target species, and the United Nations, ICCAT and EU all began gradually dismantling these fisheries. First by prohibiting the length of the nets to exceed 2.5 kilometers, and eventually banning all use of this gear type.

Italy however, has never strictly enforced this ban. In fact, Italy has ceased declaring their landings of Swordfish, so little is known about how much Sword is actually being harvested by their various fleets. The Italian gillnet fleet has contracted significantly since pelagic gillnetting was prohibited, and the Italian government has subsidized these vessels to switch to different fisheries, but it's estimated that there still may be as many as 100 Italian vessels continuing to drift net for Swordfish.

It really is a surprise how there are any pelagics left in the Med. It's just too small a body of water for the fish to have many (any!) hiding places. I guess areas like the Gulf of Sidra were the last havens. Like the mammoths of Wrangel Island.

[Free_Jumper]

At the end of a work day I didn't really expect to be transported into a fishing adventure.

You have an eye for quality, enjoyed it thoroughly!

[aloop]

Since Gadhafi is hopefully getting the boot and a few more rocks whipped at him, what will happen to the country's tuna fattening farms operations? I know Libya is not a member of ICCATT but what could happen if Japan can no longer source bluefin from those waters?

[Heli Sports]

Since Gadhafi is hopefully getting the boot and a few more rocks whipped at him, what will happen to the country's tuna fattening farms operations? I know Libya is not a member of ICCATT but what could happen if Japan can no longer source bluefin from those waters?

This is an excellent question and one that I have been giving some thought over the past week:

There is a great deal more at stake here than Saif al Islam Gaddafi's small Bluefin ranch at Shabiat Elmergeb near Zitan in Northeast Libya, or the production from four small tonnaras located between Gazira and Garibulli in the Gulf of Sidra.

Although Libya has 48 documented seiners (many of these re-flagged vessels of foreign origin) and declared annual Bluefin landings of only about 1000-1300 metric tons over the past several years, a very large percentage of the entire Mediterranean Bluefin tuna production is harvested from Libyan waters.

Because the traditional Bluefin spawning grounds in the Balearic Sea have been so overfished, and the spawning aggregation there is now so small, almost all the stock from ranches throughout the Mediterranean Sea is harvested either from the Gulf of Sidra (a spawning ground for Bluefin as well as a marine sanctuary) or the area between Libya and Malta, and then towed in transfer cages by tug boats to fattening operations thoughout the region. Not only to ranches in Malta and Tunisia, but to operations as far away as Alicante in Spain, Dogi Otok in Croatia and perhaps even Turkey.

These fishing grounds are now likely the last stronghold of spawning class Bluefin in the Mediterranean Sea. The only area where large individuals aggregate for spawning in schools large enough for viable industrial scale seining. Saif al Islam Gaddafi, the first son of despot Muammar Gaddafi, and owner of Ras Al Hilal Marine Services controls not only Libya's largest tuna fattening operation, but the entire production of tuna from this area.

Not content with control over just the historically Bluefin Tuna rich waters of the Gulf of Sidra, in 2005 Gaddafi nationalized all the waters extending out 65 miles from Libya. This power play effectively forced Maltese fishermen from very productive fishing grounds near the Medina Bank, a possible spawning ground prolific with large Bluefin the Maltese had fished for centuries.

With a monopoly on the last genuinely viable Bluefin Tuna fishing grounds in the Mediterranean Sea, Gaddafi climbed in bed with several greedy tuna ranchers. First forming a partnership with Mourad Trabelsi, the brother-in-law of recently ousted Tunisian President Ben Ali and owner of Tunisian Tuna SL, the second largest seiner fleet in Tunisa. Then double dipping by the selling fishing rights to this area to Francisco Fuentes, an avaricious Bluefin ranch owner from Spain who is financed by several Japanese corporations including Mitsubishi, Maruha, Kanetomo and Mitsui. Grupo Fuentes y Hijos owns and operates tuna fattening operations throughout the Mediterranean and sold approximately 200 million Euros worth of Bluefin annually before the industry's contraction when European Bluefin quotas were reduced two years ago. Fuentes largest supplier of livestock is Jean Marie Avallone, a parsimonious Frenchmen who owns Medipeche and five super seiners based in Sete. Avallone is likely responsible for France eclipsing their 2007 Bluefin quota by 100% and exterminating the species from the Balearic Sea area.

Because Gaddafi is accountable to no one, the waters off of Libya were essentially a black hole for Bluefin Tuna. Approximately 12,000 metric tons of Bluefin were harvested from Libyan waters annually, but that is only what was declared to ICCAT. It's likely that a far greater quantity was taken. While compliance and enforcement have certainly improved a great deal in Europe over the past several seasons, there is no observer coverage of Libyan vessels so it's really unclear exactly what has been going on with Bluefin Tuna in Libya.

Although the use of aircraft for spotting tuna schools has been illegal in the Mediterranean since 2004, French, Spanish and Libyan aircraft have continued to use Benghazi as a base of operations for tuna spotting sorties.

Although Japan now rejects a significant number of suspicious or improperly documented Bluefin imports, it's naive to think all illegal activities have ceased in the Mediterranean Sea and particularly in Libya. In all likelyhood, at sea transfer from Libyan seiners into Korean or Taiwanese freezer vessels continues at some level. Facilitated by Japanese tuna traders like Ansai Yasutochi (Tokyo Seafoods), it's still very easy for Asian fishing companies to fudge the certificates of origin and catch area for their production, and perhaps with help from Yakuza, land their cargo in Japan.

It's highly unlikely that Gaddafi or Ras Al Hilal ever paid any real attention to ICCAT quotas or the minimum size limit of 30 kgs. Saif al Islam is accountable only to his father, and although marine scientists have had access at various time to study Libya's trap production, Libya only marginally recognizes ICCAT and I find it hard to believe the nation was fully compliant during the 2010 season.

Although the ouster of the Gaddafi regime seems imminent, and its potential ramifications on the Mediterranean Bluefin industry are potentially landscape changing, it's impossible to predict what's going to happen there. It's also inconceivable that a new working government will be installed prior to the 2011 Mediterranean Bluefin season, which is just around the corner. The Gulf of Sidra traps may have allready started producing and smaller tuna were likely being harvested by Tunisian and Libyan seiners during January/February. The seiner season for large spawning individuals begins in this area in late May or early June.

There are many different possible scenarios regarding future Bluefin fishing in this region. If the next regime is a moderate, pro-western democracy, it's likely that Libya would become more compliant with ICCAT. However, a radical Islamic faction could make the Bluefin situation much worse. It's not inconceivable that black market exports of Libyan Bluefin could become a source of funding for Al Qaeda terrorist operations? Will the future government have the resolve and means to manage the nations fisheries? I guess it could go either way.

Gaddafi's ouster will be good news to Malta for many reasons. Saif al Islam has hurt Maltese fishermen for years by undercutting prices and loading the cages of Maltese ranch operators like Charlie Azzopardi (Azzopardi Fisheries) and Joe Caruana (Fish & Fish) with cheap tuna. And it's possible that Maltese seiners will again have access to the Medina Bank tuna grounds. But there are other players in the Libyan tuna business besides Gaddafi: Alladin Weffati owns several Libyan seiners and the small Nour Al Hayat ranch. Perhaps nothing will change in the short term? The Fuentes group has surely allready aquired Libyan fishing rights for 2011 so it's a good bet that the Medipeche seiner fleet will be back in the Gulf of Sidra by June.

It's not easy to answer your question. Should access to the fishing grounds in Libyan waters become restricted, it would become rather difficult for France, Spain and possibly some other countries to harvest their individual Bluefin quotas. There are no longer enough large tuna available in the traditionally fished areas of the Western Mediterranean Sea. I imagine it would also affect the prices for ranched tuna, however even after contraction in the industry, there is still a surplus of farmed tuna from the Mediterranean. More is imported into Japan each year, than ends up being sold.

There is an ICCAT meeting on compliance concluding today in Barcelona. I don't know if Hussein Zaroug or any delegate from Libya was in attendance, though I would assume that the situation in Libya vis a vis tuna was covered at the meeting. Muammar Gaddafi has only days, perhaps hours before he and his family are deported. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out...