Spain is participating in the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an inter-governmental fishing organization responsible for the conservation of tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, issuing recommendations to maintain a sustainable exploitation of the species.
The fishing campaign of the bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic takes place during the spring and summer.
This campaign is included in the 2013 Fishing Surveillance Plan. The patrol boat ‘Alborán’ deployed as part of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) Plan from May 26th to June 25th in the central Mediterranean. The purpose of this deployment is to preserve the species included in the ICCAT.
The ship departed Cartagena on May 26th with a group of two inspectors from the Spanish General Secretariat for Fisheries, a French inspector and a coordinator from the EFCA. The ship’s main mission will be surveillance and inspection of trawlers fishing bluefin tuna, as well as other related activities like tuna fattening, closed season control, fishing gear and monitoring authorized fishing grounds.
After the initial two-week campaign, the ‘Alborán’ is scheduled to call at Porto Pi in Majorca for crew recreation and relief of inspectors. The second and final stretch of the deployment will also last a fortnight, and once the campaign is over, the patrol boat will return to her home port in Cartagena.
[mappress] Press Release, June 6, 2013; Image: Spanish Navy