The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) will try to hammer out a new plan that protects the overfished species without throttling the multi-million dollar industry built around it.

Measures on the table range from tighter quotas and enforcement to an outright moratorium.

The stakes are high not just for bluefin and large-scale fisheries in a dozen countries but for ICCAT itself, according to the organisation's chairman.

"Our fate will be sealed ultimately by the decisions we make in Marrakech," Fabio Hazin wrote in a letter to the commission's forty-odd member states two weeks ahead of the special meeting.

"Let's not fool ourselves: there will be no future for ICCAT if we do not fully respect and abide by the scientific advice," he warned.

Driven by skyrocketing prices -- especially in Japan, which consumes more than 80 percent of tuna caught in the Mediterranean Sea -- bluefin tuna populations have crashed over the last decade.

Quotas put in place to stem the decline are not nearly stringent enough, according to many experts.

Others say current fishing limits would be adequate if they were respected: last year the total catch in the Mediterranean was 61,000 tonnes, more than twice the authorized limit of 29,500 tonnes, according to ICCAT statistics.

The body's own scientific committee has recommended an annual limit of 15,000 tonnes.

At the end of October, European ministers said they were in favor of "more rigorous management of this fragile species" -- including the possibility of lower quotas and a shorter fishing season -- but stopped short of calling for a moratorium.

Six European nations have a direct stake in the negotiations: France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus.

But industry groups have remained adamant that current quotas should not be cut.

The European Association of Mediterranean Tuna Fishery, which says it represents 2,500 professionals from France, Italy and Malta, insist that enforcement is the answer. Infringements of existing rules, they say, are common in fleets based on the other side of the Sea.

A summary report on tuna fishing by the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA), a European body set up in 2005 to monitor compliance with European Union fisheries rules, documents dozens of violations in 2008.

The ten-page review, provided upon request last week to the European Parliament's fisheries committee and obtained by AFP, concluded: "It has not been a priority of most operators in the fishery to comply with the ICCAT legal requirements."

It cites nearly 50 infringements over a nine-month period up to mid-October, including incomplete catch level records and the use of banned spotter planes to search for bluefin tuna schools.

The complete report -- which cost 20 million euros and breaks its findings down by country -- has yet to be released.

Green groups have sharply criticised European authorities for not making the report's preliminary findings available to ICCAT's scientific committee well ahead of the Marrakech meeting, which runs until November 24.

"Shockingly, this valuable information has been kept hidden from scientists, thus undermining the quality of fisheries management advice," said Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mediterranean.

The WWF and other environmental organisations have called for an open-ended moratorium of bluefin fishing until stocks recover.

In mid-October, the Union for the Conservation of Nature -- which groups more than 1,000 government organisations and NGOs from 160 countries -- also backed a temporary fishing ban.

Momentum is also gathering for action by the only global body with the authority to limit or ban global trade in animal and plant species, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

ICCAT Chairman Hazin seemed to allude to this as an unwelcome possibility in his letter to member states: "If we fail, other institutions will take over," he wrote.

earlier related report
EU moves to toughen fishing controls, penalties
European fishermen could face tough controls on their catches and heavier penalties for any infractions under new rules proposed Friday by the European Commission.

The proposals, already welcomed by environmental groups, would establish a new legal framework for the control and enforcement of the EU's 15-year-old fishing policies, with fish stocks in Europe increasingly under threat.

"The future of sustainable fisheries requires us to replace a system which is inefficient, expensive and complex with one which can really produce results," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

"I believe this proposal will give all the actors involved the tools they need to do the job," he said.

The plans would see fishing catches monitored more closely, including the use of satellite surveillance, so the authorities know exactly what has been caught, by whom and where as quickly as possible.

This policing would take place in ports, when fish are transported and at markets, instead of simply at sea, where vessels can be hard to locate.

Rules governing fishing would be simplified and streamlined, and ensure that sanctions hit all wrongdoers in the same way.

To ensure that fishing quotas are respected, the commission has also proposed to introduce a penalty points system, which could lead to the loss of permits and licences after a certain number of offences are committed.

Green groups welcomed the plans, but called for even tougher action.

"This proposal is a first step," said Aaron McLoughlin, head of the WWF's European marine programme.

"But most fishing ministers and administrations have to get serious about dealing with the problem, and start rewarding the majority of honest fishermen by enforcing the rules," he said.

The Pew Environment Group said: "We welcome the proposal to strengthen control of fisheries on land, but are concerned that this is no substitute for efficient controls at sea, which is essential to ensure that infringements and illegal fishing are detected."

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