Request for investigations related to Maltese bluefin tuna farming activity

I am referring to your electronic mail sent on 1 September 2008 to Commissioner Joe Borg, who has asked me to reply on his behalf.
The Commission has noted the figures reported in the Maltese press and the alleged discrepancies between Japanese import data and the caging capacity of Maltese tuna farms. The Commission is in contact with the Maltese authorities to seek clarification of the situation.
Addressing discrepancies of this type is one of the reasons why cross-checking of multiple sources of data are central to the Commission’s 2008 control campaign on bluefin tuna. Careful and detailed analysis is necessary in order to avoid such contradictions in reporting.
Regarding the activity of the Maltese farms in 2008, the Commission has received elements concerning five farms with cages in six different sites around the Maltese coast. One of these farms, AJD Tuna Ltd, has two different ICCAT Register numbers. Two farms included in the ICCAT Register, “Mediterranean tuna Ltd” and “Deep Sea Aquaculture”, have not declared any caging information. Therefore, the activity of those farms cannot be assessed.
In June 2008, during another Commission inspection, it has appeared that the number and size of cages in Malta shows that the potential capacity for farming maybe much greater than that reported to ICCAT.
The Commission attaches the highest importance to ensuring the proper implementation of the ICCAT recovery plan for the stock, so as to restore the fishery to sustainability. For this reason, the Commission has communicated to the Maltese authorities to enable them to perform their tasks of control and inspection as required by Article 1(2) of the Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 and to carry out administrative cross-checks on landings, transhipments, landing and caging declarations and any other relevant documents as required in Article 32 (2) of Council Regulation (EC) no 1559/2007.
Detailed investigation of how 2008 Japanese import figures tally with EU catch reports will play a crucial role in our continuing control campaign, as and when the relevant figures become available to us and can be analysed. In this context, maybe it is worth to mention that statistics from EUROSTAT on exports to Japan are usually complete three months after the quota period ends (e.g. for 2008 quota period, they will be produced in March 2009), meanwhile Japanese import statistics are usually available one month after the end of the quota period (e.g. for 2008 quota period, they will be produced at the end of January 2009).
This is the first full fishing campaign where the audit trail agreed in ICCAT can be established. The Commission is aware that there are shortcomings in the application of the system, but needs to analyse all the data carefully in order to arrive, for the end of 2008 – when harvesting and exports will be complete – at a clear picture of the situation.

Fokin FOTIADIS
European Commission’s DG Mare

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