為了避免重蹈2007年許多歐盟會員國，過度捕撈地中海黑鮪魚（bluefin tuna）的覆轍，歐盟執委會日前發起一項大型控管活動，將於本季出動16 架飛機及 49艘大、小型巡邏艇進行海洋查緝，同時50位巡檢員也會檢查出入港口的船隻。
歐盟執委會透過這項聯合調度計畫，展現全力保護黑鮪魚的決心，而最理想的情況就是遵從大西洋鮪魚保育國際委員會(ICCAT)為期15年的黑鮪魚復育計畫。然而執委會表示，除非會員國有意解決鮪釣船艦總產能過剩的問題，否則再有效率的控管計畫也無法確保漁業能永續發展。
根據全球保育組織WWF上週出刊的一份報告中指出，歐盟及沿海各州一直以來不斷擴張鮪釣船艦的規模與效率，不僅衍生過度捕撈的問題，也連帶波及到整體漁業市場。
執委會漁業暨海事委員柏格(Joe Borg )表示，「我非常歡迎各會員國能相互合作，共同籌劃這項控管計畫；然而為了徹底解決問題的根源，會員國必須提起勇氣與決心，在漁獲產值與捕撈機率間得以永續平衡之前，確保摧毀船艦的必要性。」
柏格也提及，「針對摧毀船艦造成的衝擊，歐洲漁業基金會遂發行公債公開招募資金，金援船艦擁有者及船員，而其他相關漁業團體除了給予金錢補助外，也協助其多角化經營。」
柏格承諾道，執委會將會盡其所能援助各會員國，讓漁業在生態、經濟及社會各方面都回歸到永續經營的模式；但鮪釣船艦產能過剩的最大宗案例卻是在土耳其，而其他像是阿爾吉利亞、利比亞、突尼西亞及克羅埃西亞等也在地中海捕撈黑鮪魚的國家，全都在歐盟會員國名單外；然而對整體漁業而言，唯有抑制過度捕撈的行為，讓海洋資源達到足以永續發展的水準後，控管與執行才是後續管理的主要關鍵。
The European Commission has launched a major EU control campaign aimed at preventing a repeat of last year's overfishing of Mediterranean bluefin tuna by a number of EU member states. This season, 16 aircraft and 49 large and small patrol vessels will conduct inspections at sea, while 50 inspectors will visit vessels in port.
The launch of the Joint Deployment Plan marks the EU's determination to ensure that the 15 year recovery plan for the giant tunas, agreed within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, ICCAT, in November 2006, is fully respected.
The Commission says that even effective control measures will not suffice to ensure the sustainability of the fishery until the member states concerned tackle the gross overcapacity of the fleet that targets bluefin tuna.
As documented in a report published last week by the global conservation organization WWF, the whole fishery is plagued by overfishing by a fleet that keeps growing in size and efficiency both in the EU and in the other coastal states that target bluefin tuna.
Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, said, "I welcome the cooperation of the member states in organizing the joint control effort. However, they need to go much further to tackle the root of the problem with courage and determination by ensuring the necessary scrapping of vessels till a sustainable balance is found between fishing capacity and fishing possibilities."
"Public funding is available under the European Fisheries Fund for vessel owners and crews affected by such scrapping. Financial support is also available to the fishing communities concerned to help them diversify their economies," said Borg.
He pledged that the Commission "will do all it can" to help the member states return the fishery to "ecological, economic and social sustainability." But the country with the greatest overcapacity, Turkey, is not an EU member state, and Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Croatia, which also fish for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, are not member states either.
Until the fleet overcapacity has been reduced in line with the sustainable level of the resource, control and enforcement will continue to be a critical issue in the fishery.
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