Make or break time for southern bluefin tuna

by Karen Barlow on 23 Aug 2011 ABC1's Lateline has been given exclusive access to the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) meeting in Sydney where Australia and New Zealand warned delegates to act to save the critically endangered species or face having the decision taken away from them.

CCSBT member nations are deciding on a management plan for the lucrative southern bluefin tuna fishery, which has crashed due to decades of overfishing.

The head of the New Zealand delegation, Arthur Hore, says urgent action is needed.

'The basic fact remains that current spawning stock size is perilously low and while at this level the fishery remains at risk,' he said.

Since industrial fishing began in the 1940s, the southern bluefin tuna spawning stock has plunged to just 5 per cent.
Members of the commission are aware of the difficulty of turning that historical low around.

'Even in the absence of fishing the stock would not recover to our agreed interim rebuilding target of 20 per cent by the year 2020,' said Phillip Glyde, who leads Australia's delegation.

The special meeting of the commission is expected use advice from its own scientific committee to settle on a long-delayed 'management procedure' for southern bluefin tuna.

A three- to four-year plan could involve changes to fishing quota levels, or more drastically, a complete halt to commercial fishing.

'It is Australia's view that catches should be maintained at more precautionary levels in the initial years of rebuilding,' Mr Glyde said.

'The scientific committee's analysis also indicated that while the spawning stock of southern bluefin tuna remains at very low levels, the outlook for its recovery is more positive.'

Australia relies on a CSIRO aerial survey of juvenile southern bluefin tuna in the Great Australian Bight and the most recent Japanese long line data.

'If these indicators continue to be positive there may be scope for global catch levels to increase under management procedure,' Mr Glyde said.

That optimism is enough for Australia's tuna fishing industry - which forms part of the Australian delegation - to call for an immediate 25 per cent increase in the quota.

Halt to fishing
However conservationists, who are observers at the meeting, warn that the tuna spotted in South Australia are juvenile, unable to breed for years.

Alexia Wellbelove, from Humane Society International (HSI), wants a total halt to fishing.

'It is difficult for HSI to see an option other than a zero TAC [Total Allowable Catch] of southern bluefin tuna to ensure that all members can benefit from stock recovery within an acceptable timeframe with high reliability,' she said.

The commission unsuccessfully tried to agree to a management procedure last year.

The global marine program leader at the wildlife conservation organisation TRAFFIC, Glenn Sant, hopes for better cooperation this year.

'The members agreed in 2009 that a management procedure would be in place by 2012 and for this to happen requires agreement by this year at the very latest,' he said.

In a surprise move, the country which has the largest southern bluefin tuna quota and import's 80 per cent of the world's catch - Japan - is doubting the recent good news on the species.

'We are feeling uneasy about the ESC's (scientific committee's) optimistic outcome,' said Kenji Kagawa, head of the Japan delegation to the CCSBT.

The independent scientific advice to the commission this year is a complete turnaround from the results of the past two years.

'As I look at these results, I am starting to wonder whether they might be some serious problems with the current model for projections ... or the stock assessment methodology ... or the Bali procedure which is based on the current model,' Mr Kagawa said.

If there is no action at this Sydney meeting there will be intense pressure to ban the global trade in southern bluefin tuna.

The United Nations-administered Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - or CITES - could choke off supply to Japan and kill the industry.

Mr Glyde says CITES is closely watching this meeting.

'In Australia's view, if we do not reach agreement on management procedure that will form the basis of setting global catch levels for 2012 and beyond, we can expect there will be a concerted effort to take decisions about sustainable catch and commercial trade on southern bluefin tuna away from this organisation,' he said.

New Zealand has called on CCSBT member nations to act.

'We perceive that the international community is losing its patience with regional organisations that fail to meet their obligations,' Arthur Hore said.

The commission for the Conservation for Southern Bluefin Tuna now goes behind closed doors.

The details of any way forward for the species are expected to be kept secret until the annual CCSBT meeting next month in CCSBT website