Site selection and carrying capacity in Mediterranean ... - FAO Sipam

86 GFCM:XXXV/2011/Dma.9
there is evidence of increasing dependence for molluscs as well (FAO 2004, FAO 2006). In addition
to the technological factors underlying capture-based fisheries, there are also significant economic
incentives, primarily in developing countries where the collection and sale or use of juveniles may
generate significant income for local communities (Ottolenghi et. al. 2004). Capture based fisheries
becomes a concern when it increases pressure on an already stressed wild stock species. The culture of
bluefin tuna and mullets are two examples in which capture from wild stocks has been implicated in
actually or potentially having negative effects. In addition to tuna and mullet, there is also concern for
groupers, eels and yellowtails.
Capture-based mullet culture
Unlike seabass and seabream, which are reared from eggs produced in commercial hatcheries, most of
the mullet production, e.g. the huge Egyptian mullet industry, is largely dependent on capture of wild
"seed" (Mega Pesca, 2001). Notwithstanding promising pilot stage results from rearing juvenile thick
lipped grey mullet in mesocosms (Ben Khemis et. al. 2006), commercial scale mullet culture remains
heavily dependent on wild captured juveniles. In 2004, Egypt collected between 100 and 135 million
mullet fry to support its production of 133,000 tonnes of adults (GAFRD, 2004). Self-sufficiency of
this sector will only be possible through the development of mullet hatcheries that will also guarantee
the long-term sustainability of Mediterranean mullet culture (IUCN 2008).
Capture-based tuna fattening
Currently, one of the most pressing concerns on aquaculture relates to the tuna fattening industry.
Farming of bluefin tuna is a highly sophisticated and competitive business, with a large percentage of
Mediterranean output sold in the Japanese market. The crisis in tuna wild stocks has prompted action
at official levels.
Lleonart & Majkowski (2005) and Lovatelli (2005) predicted the collapse of the bluefin tuna fishery
given pressures from capture fishing and capture-based aquaculture. In March 2009, the European
Parliament plenary session voted in favour of new cuts in bluefin tuna catch levels and fisheries
campaigns under the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic Ocean Bluefin Tuna Recovery Plan. The
measures described in the bluefin tuna recovery plan were agreed upon by the members of the
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Marrakesh, Morocco in
November 2008, and entail:
• Reducing total fishing capacity to 2007-08 levels for vessels that target bluefin tuna, followed
by a plan to reduce and adapt fishing capacity to national quota levels;
• Reducing total captive breeding capacity, which is not to surpass the maximum quantity of
annual raw material allowed for the 2007-08 period, which will continue dropping in
successive years;
• Defining control mechanisms along the bluefin tuna marketing chain (Murias 2009).
86